A Very Warped Summer
by StellaSong
Summary: Danielle and her band are about to go on the biggest tour of the summer out of the kindness of Austin Carlile's heart. Her band teases her about her long time crush on the frontman...but could there possibly be more than just a silly crush? (RE-UPLOAD)
1. One

**A/N: All right guys, here's the deal. Most of you may have already read this story and I did put it on Wattpad but no one seems to have gotten the message so I'm putting it back on here because haha yolo. If it still gets removed, it will be on Wattpad under the same pen name I have and the same story titles. Hopefully I'll also get a new crowd. PLEASE help spread the word about my story, guys. It's going to take so much work to recover all the chapters from my sequel. I love you guys so much. xo**

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"So, you guys," Danielle smirked as she sat on the small couch in a rocky bus on a late, summer night. Her band mates, Jeff, the bassist, Erick, the guitarist, and Andrew, the drummer, looked up at her. Erick was tuning his guitar softly while looking at her intently under his snapback.

"We start our biggest tour tomorrow." She couldn't contain her smile. The guys all started cheering and fist pumping.

"Do you have the time we're playing?" Erick asked, looking back at his guitar.

Danielle unlocked her phone, scrolling down her notepad. "We play on the Ernie Ball stage at 2 P.M. Signing at our tent is at 6 P.M." She locked her phone again, a big smile creeping back onto her face.

"Who else is going this year?" Jeff asked, immersed in his phone.

"As far as I know, some main bands are Falling In Reverse..."

"Fuck yeah, Ronnie Radke!" Erick shouted.

Danielle laughed, still trying to think of the bands. "All Time Low, Sleeping With Sirens, Tonight Alive, Pierce The Veil, Breathe Carolina, Mayday Parade, The Used—oh, and Of Mice & Men."

All of the boys' heads suddenly perked up and they all exchanged glances and smirked. "What?" She asked with a laugh.

"You were obviously thinking of them first, you just didn't want to hear us bitch about it," Erick laughed.

She narrowed her eyes. "Excuse me?"

"_'Ohmygod, Austin Carlile! He is _soooooo _dreamy! Ohmygod, one time, we had a conversation for like twenty minutes and he followed me on Twitter and he talks to me sometimes and inspires me to keep writing and helps me remember what I live for!'" _Andrew began mimicking in a high pitched voice, batting his eyelashes and constantly flicking his wrist. She grabbed a pillow on the couch and threw it at his head while the rest of the guys laughed.

"Ha, ha, you guys are fucking hilarious," she tried to say as flatly as possible, but Andrew was still batting his eyelashes and she couldn't help but laugh. "Seriously, guys, he's an amazing person."

"We know that," Jeff laughed. "We just love messing with ya."

"If it weren't for him, we probably wouldn't be here," Erick said, flashing her a small smile.

Her cheeks turned crimson as she looked down at her hands. It was true. Austin was the one who put in a good word for her and her band. She met him a few years ago at Warped Tour, and told him about how he saved her life and how she wanted to start a band and become like him someday. He told her never to give up and even asked for her Twitter account so he could follow her and keep up with her daily life. She thought he would never talk to her, but he did constantly, always replying to her sad tweets to reassure her that she could do it.

That's when she met the guys at college, who all played an instrument and had the same dream. When she told them she could sing—and even scream—they put her in immediately. After bringing her into Erick's basement in his own, small recording area, she covered a few songs and she showed them how well she could actually scream. Being a girl, it was rare to find ones that put in as much time and effort practicing as she did.

And then, few months later, she tweeted him and told him about their EP they finally produced with five of their own songs. He tweeted back later that day to congratulate her and even said he would put in a good word with people and get her band to tour soon. He kept to his word, because she did a small tour with Sleeping With Sirens as the headliner, Tonight Alive (which was pretty fun, considering she was with another girl, Jenna, who later lent their band a small tour bus), and a few other small bands. They got a lot of publicity after that, especially after rumors floating around that she and Kellin had a "thing."

Then one day this past year, she got a call telling her she would could be squeezed in during Warped Tour. Excitedly, she told the rest of the band and they immediately began practicing more and more, getting ready for this day. And now—it was finally here.

"Well, we have to get up really early tomorrow and sound check and so on and so forth," Danielle said, getting up from the couch. "You guys better go to bed soon."

"Yes, mom," the guys all muttered, developed in their own thing. She rolled her eyes, heading to her own bunk. She went into the back of the bus and changed into her pajamas, throwing them in a pile with the rest of their clothes and climbed into her top bunk. She closed the curtain and shut off the small light inside, nestled into her warm blankets and pillow.

Suddenly, her bunk was filled with bright daylight and something hit her in the face. She sat up quickly, hitting her head on the top. "Ow!" She yelped in pain. Erick was standing by her bunk, laughing hysterically and clapping his hands like a seal.

"I swear, it was Andrew's idea!"

Danielle picked up a pillow with a paper cutout of Austin Carlile's face plastered on it. She threw it back at Erick's feet and slammed her face back into my pillow. "You guys are dicks!" A muffled scream drew out from her face plastered in the pillow.

"No, seriously, Dani, we're in Salt Lake City already." She heard Andrew say, suppressing his laughter. "We saw the Of Mice & Men bus already, maybe if you're lucky, Austin will come out in his boxers!"

Without turning around, she shoved her middle finger in his face. He started laughing again and tore her blankets off, leaving them on the ground. She hunched herself together, groaning from the cold.

"Rise and shiiiiine, Princess!" He sang as he walked away. With a final groan, she jumped out of the bunk, throwing her blankets back on her bed. She quickly changed and began doing her hair and make-up.

"Oh, she's gotta be ready for her Prince Charming, forgot..." Andrew said as he walked into the back room. She eyed him angrily. He snickered, walking away. She hated the fact that they did this to her in the morning. During the last tour, the guys constantly messed with her, knowing she was not a morning person at all. Yawning, she made her way to the front of the bus, grabbing the pancakes Erick made earlier. Out of all of them, he was the best chef.

She bit into them hungrily, drowning them in syrup. After she finished, she brushed her teeth and quickly walked out to meet the rest of them, waiting patiently on the couch for her. "Ready?" She asked with a smile.

"To meet Austin or to play?" Erick smirked. The guys tried to hide their smiles. She felt like kicking all of them.

A few moments later, they were out of their tour bus, walking past the gated fence and into the actual venue. A bunch of crew members were hanging around, setting up last minute things. She was amazed; she had never seen Warped Tour so empty before.

"I can't believe this is actually happening," Danielle said with a smile. "Guys, we're going to meet so many bands!"

"In other words, she's going to meet Austin—again!" Erick said playfully.

"_Okay," _Danielle stopped, unable to hide her smile. "The Austin jokes are old now."

"I think they keep getting funnier," Andrew said with a smirk.

She stuck her tongue at him. "Let's just get to Ernie Ball."

They walked around the venue until they found the stage and went into the back—a place they had never been before. A few crew members in bright orange shirts turned to acknowledge them.

"Hey! Band name?" One guy with a clipboard and headset asked.

"A Different Salvation," Danielle answered, wishing she could let go of the heavy amp she had to hold. The guy looked down his list and smiled, checking their name off.

"Go in the trailer and you'll find a spot with your guys' band name in masking tape on the wall. Just set your stuff down there and we'll keep it safe," he winked at them and walked away quickly. They all hurried up into the trailer, looking around for their name. Erick found it first and set down his guitar case. Danielle put down the amp and untangled the microphone hanging around her neck and placed it on top. The rest of the band put down their stuff while their tour bus driver helped carry in the rest.

Danielle hopped up onto the stage and overlooked the entire scene. From here, she could see the line already formed at the front gates. A smile lit up her face. In a few hours, she would be standing here with some of those faces looking up at her, some singing her songs. And she couldn't wait.


	2. Two

The gates opened at noon exactly and people came piling in large bunches as they handed over their tickets. Danielle was sitting in the tour bus on her phone, tweeting about the time she and her band were going on. A few moments later, she received a notification that Austin had quoted her tweet and added on to it:

_Go check out this band, guys! They're one of my new favorites._

She smiled to herself. Just as she was about to lock her phone, she got another notification. He tweeted her once more asking:

_Where are you, pretty lady?!_

Trying not to blush as red as a tomato, she replied, telling him what their tour bus looked like. She put her phone away and ran into the backroom, checking herself out in the mirror. The guys watched her suspiciously when she came back to the front of the bus.

"What?" She asked. Before they could say anything, a bunch of loud knocks came from their door. She dashed forward before anyone else had the time to and swung the door open. There stood a tired Austin, his hood over his head and a smile on his face. She couldn't help but smile. He climbed up onto the bus and he picked her up in a hug.

"Thank you so much!" She said when he put her down. "Seriously, this is a dream come true for us." She looked at her band mates, who were all staring at Austin with awe. They did not expect this to happen.

"I told you I'd help you," he said in a tired, drawn voice. He turned to the rest of the band and waved at them. "How are you guys this morning?"

"Tired as shit," Erick replied. "We don't even play until another two hours."

"Yeah, I don't play until three. So I'll be able to watch your guys' set!"

"You sure you can do that with the amount of fans you've got crawling all over you?" Andrew asked with a laugh.

"I'd stay behind the stage, obviously. I might miss the end of it because I'll have to go for sound check and warm-ups before-hand. But I'll be able to watch you at other times." He smiled at Danielle, making her heart melt. "Are those pancakes?" He brushed past Danielle and stole a pancake off the large stack still sitting on the plate. Once he bit into it, his eyes lit up. "Who made these?"

Erick raised his hand.

"Dude, these are fucking amazing!"

Erick laughed. "Thanks, man. I'll bring some over sometime later during the tour."

Austin pointed at him, swallowing a large bite he just took. "You, my new friend, are the best." They high-fived. Danielle watched them with a smile, glad to not have to deal with their consistent jokes about him to her.

Austin left the bus about an hour later, giving the guys a round of high-fives and Danielle a quick hug. He darted out of the bus, dashing through to his own bus a few feet away. Once the door closed, just as she expected, the guys burst into laughter.

"Did you see your face!" Erick said between gasps. "I don't think there was a moment you _didn't _smile at him! Come on, Dani, you make it so blatantly obvious. That's why he's so affectionate toward you."

"Oh, stop! You're just jealous I'm a better friend to him, that's all." She sneered.

"Yeah, that's it," Jeff muttered. She slapped him in the head.

Soon after, they started heading to the stage. The whole place was crowded, just like she remembered it to be. Bands in every direction were playing loudly and it was hard to hear over each other sometimes. They quickly got to the back of the Ernie Ball Stage where iwrestledabearonce was currently playing. They checked in with the same guy from this morning and he told them once they were done, the crew would set up their stuff.

While waiting, the band warmed up. Andrew tapped his drumsticks against everything with headphones in his ears, listening to the EP. Erick strummed different chords and seemed to be in a trance as he played their song, _Love of Mine_, over and over—their first song on the set list. They had a few songs they would be covering here and there to fill in their time slot, so Danielle looked forward to that. She drank tons of water and exercised her voice; first with her singing notes, then with her screams, unable to be heard over iwrestledabearonce. Jeff practiced their other song with her, _Eternal Scars—_one of her personal favorites because it basically represented her past and everything that she went through.

iwrestledabearonce then finished shortly afterward. Danielle felt a knot in her stomach as the band came off the stage. They walked into the trailer and saw the band sitting there, practicing. They all exchanged hellos and Danielle continued to practice while the crew set up. Andrew helped carry out some of their equipment, seeing that he was the strongest.

As Danielle was about to go on, she spotted someone in the corner of her eye. She saw Austin, sitting behind the black curtain on an equipment case. He smiled and waved at her, she smiled and waved back. Jeff followed her eyes and began laughing.

"Don't get distracted, Dani. Fans before Mans," he said to her.

She glared at him. "Mans isn't even proper English, idiot."

He winked. "But it rhymes." The band started out on stage, plugging in their instruments. Danielle took one more giant gulp as she heard hundreds of kids scream as the guys came out. She breathed in and out deeply. She walked up on the stage and grabbed her mic, about to go on. She looked at Austin and he stared back at her.

"Kill it." He smirked. She nodded with a smile and ran out on stage to the very front. She was surprised to see how many kids were actually there. She put a hand to her ear, wanting to hear more screams. Just as she wanted, they screamed louder.

"Wow, big crowd," she started, walking farther back on the stage. "How many people here went on the tour with Sleeping With Sirens, Tonight Alive, and us, A Different Salvation?" A large portion of the crowd cheered. "Wow, that's pretty fucking rad. Well, anyway, this is our band and we have an EP out now called _Sweet Tragedy _and you can all feel free to come to our tent at 6 P.M. to buy a copy, sound good?" The crowd cheered once more. A confident smile spread across her face. She looked over at Austin, who shoved two thumbs up at her. "This first song is called _Love of Mine!_"

About halfway through their set, she happened to look over and saw that Austin was about to leave. Once their song ended, he got stopped by a crew member that started talking to him. She looked out over the crowd, feeling more confident than ever.

"How many of you guys love Of Mice & Men?" Almost the whole crowd started screaming. "So do I," she laughed, looking over to see she had done what she wanted, grabbed Austin's attention. "To be honest, I wouldn't be here without that wonderful front man, Austin Carlile." Once more, the crowd screamed. "He told me to never give up, just like none of you ever should either! Because look where I am now because I didn't! You can achieve something amazing if you work hard at it. This next song describes all of that bullshit I had to deal with." She looked over at him again and he still had a large smile on his face. He mouthed that he had to go and waved. She waved back as he got off the stage. "This song is called _Eternal Scars._"

After their set, the band separated to watch different bands. On her way to Of Mice & Men, she got stopped by a few people, asking for a picture and autograph. She did them quickly and ran over to the Kia Soul Stage during _Second & Sebring_. She ran up past the barricade where photographers and security guards were standing. She knew the song was almost over when she heard Aaron begin singing Shayley's part of the song. Just like usual, she saw Austin getting emotional. He happened to look over at her, standing next to a photographer and gave a small smile. The song ended completely and a bunch of fans belted out the end at the top of their lungs. He beckoned his head toward the stage, trying not to be obvious about it. She showed the guard her wristband before running behind the fence and up the stage.

"Were any of you at A Different Salvation's set before?" Austin asked. A few handfuls of the crowd cheered. Danielle blushed. He looked over at her and beckoned her to come out. Nervously, she walked out and the crowd began screaming. He threw a sweaty arm over her shoulders, waiting for the noise to quiet down.

"If you weren't there, you missed out on a great set, because man let me tell you," he paused. "This girl can fucking _scream._" The crowd cheered and she put on an awkward smile, feeling overwhelmed. "Their signing is at six! Be there, because I'll definitely be over there buying some merch." He put down the microphone and turned to her, smiling.

"Thank you," she said again. He wrapped her into a tight hug as the crowd shouted once more. He kissed her on the head and gently let her go. She ran off the stage as Austin yelled, "I want you to all scream at the top of your lungs with me!" And then, _Still YDG'n_ started. She stood off to the side, watching him angrily scream into his microphone.

This was officially the best day of her life.

"So I better see you at a show next time we tour!" Danielle said to one girl that was already wearing one of their shirts. The girl agreed and she gave her a hug before she walked away. The line wasn't quite as big as their crowd that they played, but that was mostly because Austin left only moments ago. It disappointed her that people only wanted to see Austin at the signing—if they wanted to see him, they could go to _his _signing.

"You need to lay down on the flirting, miss Danielle," Erick said as he signed a CD for a girl that was potentially flirting with Erick at that moment, but he didn't really seem to care or notice.

She rolled her eyes. "I'm not! He's just a friend and we haven't seen each other in a few years!"

"The only thing you've done is talk on Twitter and let me just tell you those fangirls have noticed today."

"Like I give two shits what they think. Austin and I are just friends."

"Yeah, right," the next girl in line said with a smile. Danielle turned to her. "Will you sign a CD?" She handed the money. With a sly look, Danielle took the money and used the Sharpie hanging around her tank top to sign the cover. She handed it to the girl. "I ship you and Austin though, just saying."

Danielle's mouth dropped and Erick started laughing. She hit him in the head and happily greeted the next couple of fans.

At the end of the day, the bands headed back to their buses. On their way, she spotted Vic Fuentes, another guy she had admired for years. She felt awkward saying hi, but at the same time, she didn't want to pass up the opportunity. But no sooner did Kellin notice her and wave. She waved back an Vic looked in her direction. Kellin ran toward her after they were past the fence and gave her a hug.

"It's been so long!" He said.

"I know! Is Jenna here?"

"She's in her bus. Doesn't really feel that great."

"Hey, you're Danielle, right? Of A Different Salvation?" Vic asked. Surprised that he noticed her, she nodded and smiled. "Hey, props to you," he gave her a high-five. "I haven't met a girl that can scream as well as you do."

She placed her hands over her chest. "Thanks," she said genuinely.

"Vic's band, Austin and Alan, and I are going out for dinner after we take a break. Wanna join?" Kellin asked with a knowing smile. What did _he_know?

"Yeah, I'm down, you guys?" She turned to the guys who stood behind her. They all nodded.

"Cool, see you in about...twenty minutes?" Vic asked. They all agreed and headed to their own buses. Once inside, they all lounged out on the couch with Danielle on top of them all. They all groaned when she lied across them.

"Dani, we're not your boyfriend."

"He's all the way in New York so he won't get all bitchy and complain," she said, finally rolling off of them. Yes, Danielle _did_ have a boyfriend and he knew about her fangirling over Austin. He promised to be at the New York venue to see her which was about a month away, but she could wait.

"Aren't you all hung up over Austin now anyway?" Jeff asked.

She rolled her eyes. "Trace knows I like him. He also knows nothing can potentially happen. Besides, I'm pretty sure Austin has a girlfriend anyway."

"Yes, that's why he called you 'pretty lady' over Twitter, correct?" Erick asked, flashing his phone at her. She eyed him as he smiled. "Careful he doesn't see that. You know he watches you like a fucking hawk."

She shrugged. "Like I said..._nothing _is going to happen between me and Austin Carlile."


	3. Three

_'Found the best person to eat apple pie with ever!'_was the caption under Austin and Danielle's silly black and white face picture for Instagram. She and her guys, Pierce The Veil, Kellin, Austin and Alan were all seated at a large booth in Denny's eating to their heart's desires. Austin was constantly cracking jokes, making Danielle laugh harder than she has in days.

"I think I did too much drugs this morning," Austin said, laughing to himself. "Kidding!" He said, turning to Danielle with wide eyes.

"Like I always say, pugs not drugs," Danielle said.

"Exactly!" Austin said, biting into the large pieces of pie he and Danielle ordered together.

"So how was your first day of Warped Tour?" Jaime from Pierce The Veil asked.

Danielle smiled. "It was pretty rad, not going to lie," she laughed. "Largest crowd I've ever performed in front of."

He nodded. "I've heard your voice. You can sing _and _scream, which doesn't happen with girls often."

"Imagine if Jenna screamed most of her songs," Vic said with a serious face as he scrolled through his phone. Kellin choked on his food, trying not to laugh. Vic looked up and started laughing along briefly before turning back to his phone. She had to admit, these were the funniest guys she ever met.

They all finished up their meals and started to head back to the venue. Danielle's guys stayed back to talk with the others—they were pretty tired of dealing with Danielle for a whole forty-something or more hours—while she strayed more to the front of the pack, wanting nothing more than to go to sleep. She had been texting Trace—her boyfriend—ever since she was at the diner, but he seemed more tense knowing she was with all these guys. It frustrated her to know that he didn't trust her.

Suddenly an arm draped around her shoulder and Austin let out a sigh. "Why are you not being social with the rest of us?"

She shrugged. "A lot on my mind, I guess."

He nodded. "Yeah, Warped puts a lot of stress on everyone."

She let out a nervous laugh.

"What's wrong?" He asked, sounding genuinely concerned.

She shrugged again. "Just stupid boyfriend problems."

"Oh," he said with as much interest as possible.

"Yeah, I won't bore you to death with details," she laughed.

"No, come on, I'm all ears."

They got back to the venue where half of the stages were already down and packed away in the large trucks. They headed toward the back fence and Danielle began her small, sob story about her clingy boyfriend.

"He just doesn't trust me," she said softly. "He's constantly checking my Twitter, Instagram, Facebook page, everything. I have to be so careful with what I put online."

"If he doesn't trust you, he shouldn't be dating you." He opened the fence gate for her and she followed inside, proceeded by the rest of the guys.

"I know." They both stopped at the gate even after everyone passed. "But he means the world to me and I really care about him."

Austin nodded. "Well, if you ever need to vent..." He suddenly snatched her phone out of her hoodie's pocket and unlocked it, typing something in. Soon after, he handed it back. His number was displayed in her contacts. She smiled at him.

"Thanks, Austin. You've done so much to help me; you don't even know." They both hugged tightly.

"Don't ever let anyone treat you like you're ordinary, Dani." He let her go and smiled at her quickly before heading off toward his tour bus. "Goodnight, pretty lady." He smirked. She blushed and headed into her own bus. Vic and Kellin were both sitting on the seats across from the couch talking to the guys when she walked in. They all looked up at her.

"How'd that little love fest go?" Andrew asked. Her eyes widened. She looked over at Vic and Kellin, who had hidden smiles on their faces.

"We know, Dani," Vic said. "The guy has talked to you for a while over Twitter and basically talks to you like you're the only girl on the planet."

She narrowed her eyes. "Lies. He's just my friend!"

Vic and the rest of them nodded sarcastically. "And there's something else..." Erick said, looking up at her. His smile seemed to have faded. "Trace saw the Instagram picture and there's tons of comments on it talking about how people think 'you're adorable together.'"

She almost immediately took out her phone and sure enough, Trace was blowing it up with texts asking where she was and why she wasn't answering. She rushed to the back room and called him, sitting on the blankets the band had set up as a joke to have a 'cuddle fest' sometime during the tour.

"What the hell are people talking about on that picture?" Trace asked once he answered.

"Trace, hear me out, there's _nothing—_I repeat—_nothing _going on between us!"

"Why are people saying he kissed you on stage?"

"He kissed my head, big deal."

"Well, you hear _me _out, Danielle Grace," he said threateningly. "You stay the hell away from him, you got that? I can't be there to watch out for you but I sure as hell will be in July. Don't you fucking dare do anything you'll regret."

After that, her phone beeped three times, signaling that her call ended. She stormed out into the other room, sitting between Jeff and Erick. She laid her head on Erick with a pout on her face. He wrapped his arm around her and hugged her tight.

"What did he say?" Jeff asked, holding her hand.

"That I can't talk to Austin anymore."

A _tut _noise escaped Vic's lips. "Where is he right now?"

"New York."

"He can't tell you not to talk to a guy just because he's insecure of himself. For real, the dude needs a reality check. You're too pretty to be dating him anyway."

I smiled and let out a small laugh. "Thanks, Vic."

"I met him last year didn't I?" Kellin asked. Danielle nodded, her head still on Erick's shoulder. "He's a dick. I didn't like him."

"Is she too pretty for him?" Vic asked.

"Definitely."

Danielle let out another laugh and shook her head. "I just have a lot of feelings for him. It's complicated, guys."

"If he's still treating you like that by the time we get to New York's venue, I'll beat the shit out of him," Vic said, getting up and stretching. He checked his phone. "Well, the buses will be pulling out soon so we'll see you in the morning." Danielle stood up so he and Kellin could give her a long hug and reassurance that she was 'too pretty for him.' After saying their final goodbyes, they locked the bus and Danielle's sad mood returned.

The guys all watched her with sad eyes as well. "You know what I think we need?" Andrew said with a pouting face.

"Cuddle fest?" Erick asked excitedly.

"Cuddle fest," Andrew answered back.

"Fuck yeah! Cuddle fest!" Jeff shouted. Danielle laughed and tried to refuse but the guys were a lot stronger than her. They pulled her into the back room even when her feet were sliding across the floor. After she insisted she put on pajamas, they let her leave the room and change into the baggy t-shirt and flannel pants that she always wore when she just wanted to lay in bed all day and be upset.

"Uh-oh. It's _those _clothes," Jeff said, sitting against the farthest corner of their mounds of blankets and pillows.

"Oh, she's really got it bad," Erick said. She shook her head and sat down between Erick and Andrew. Jeff sat out on the corner and the other two made fun of him, saying that he couldn't cuddle with Danielle. She just laughed as she pulled the covers over her head.

Erick wrapped a protective arm around her. "All joking aside, we really love you, Dani, and we hate to see you upset. Don't let that jerk ruin this tour for you."

Under the blanket that smelled like her own home, she nodded. Feeling tears begin to prickle her eyes, she wrapped her arms around Andrew and started crying into his shirt. After that, Jeff crawled around by her feet and laid his head on her legs. The guys didn't say anymore—they just let her cry herself to sleep.


	4. Four

_I never make any note on these because I didn't think I'd get a lot of readers and I was sort of posting them for my own enjoyment to look back on one day. But I've actually been getting quite a few and it makes me happy. So anyway, because of that, I'm putting out another chapter today for Christmas! Considering I have a LOT of chapters typed out already, I kinda wanna get rid of them...lol...so here you go! Thanks for reading my bullshit, guys xo ;)_

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During the Colorado show, Danielle was a lot less energetic. Out on stage, she put on a big, fake smile, singing and screaming her heart out—especially to the song she wrote about Trace when she was mad at him. But after that, she went back to being depressed and sulked around in the tour bus. The guys would come back every now and then, telling her that Austin was looking for her, but she refused to come out. She emerged from her hovel of grieving for the signing but only for a few moments before locking herself back up in the bus.

After that, they had a few days to themselves. They stopped at their next destination—Vegas. During this time, the bands got to stay in nice hotel rooms and get complimentary meals. But that still didn't stop Danielle from staying locked up in the room. Whenever she saw Austin on their way down to meals trying to find her, she would duck behind Erick since he was tall enough to cover her. She would watch as Austin's eyes faded to disappointment and he turned back to look in front of him.

The day before they were supposed to play, Danielle was sitting in her room with Jeff when someone knocked on the door. Jeff got up and looked through the peephole. He silently crept back to Danielle, who was texting Trace unhappily on her bed.

"It's Austin," he said quietly.

"Tell him I'm sleeping," she mumbled. Frustrated, Jeff went to the door and unlocked it, peeking his head out.

"She's sleeping," Jeff said quietly.

"I know she's not." Austin sounded angry.

"Dude, you really need to leave her be."

"What the hell did _I_ do to her? Last time we talked, she seemed pretty happy to me!" His voice was getting louder.

"Just understand there's a perfectly good reason why she's doing this."

"No." Austin suddenly pushed past him and stormed into the room. Danielle looked up with wide eyes and got off the bed, pointing at the door.

"I'm sorry, Austin, you need to leave."

"What did I do?" He asked with a small laugh. "Did you hear some bullshit about me? Did I say something wrong? Tell me what I did!"

"It's really not you." Danielle let out a frustrated sigh. "I just can't talk to you. I'm sorry."

He raised an eyebrow. "You used me."

"What?"

"You got what you wanted. You got your fucking band popular and now you're just going to throw me away like I never did anything for you. I_made _your career!"

Danielle shook her head. "It's not like that at all! I'm so grateful you did that for us, I really am!"

"Yeah, and now that you got it, you don't need me anymore!"

"No!" This is exactly why she didn't want to speak to him. "Austin...I'll lose the person I care the most about if you don't leave me alone."

"Newsflash, Dani," Austin said bitterly, "sometimes we lose the person we care the most about. And we just have to learn to fucking deal without them."

Danielle realized what she just said. Austin turned and headed out of her room, slamming the door behind him. At that moment, Trace texted her, saying that he loved her and never wanted to fight again. She threw the phone across the room and sat on the bed, crying into her hands. Jeff sat next to her, comforting her with a long hug.

"You _can _do this, Dani," Erick said, placing his hands on her shoulders. "There's hundreds of fans out there and they want to hear _us_."

She sat in the back of the trailer, nervously twisting the cap of her water bottle on and off. She chugged down the rest of it and nodded, wiping her hands down on her Aspire & Create tank top; she decided she would be bold enough to wear it today. The guys headed out first with big smiles as the fans cheered. She took in more deep breaths and looked over to see Austin standing at the fence, watching her with blank eyes. She looked away quickly, still feeling awful for what she said yesterday. Planting a big smile on her face, she ran onto the stage and blew kisses out to the crowd.

"So how are you today, Vegas?" The crowd screamed. "I'm quite dandy myself." Only the band hinted the sarcasm in her voice. "This is my first Warped Tour and well...it's quite stressful, but that doesn't mean I'm going to stop singing." The crowd cheered again and the band opened up with their first song.

After they finished, a crew member handed her a small folded up piece of paper.

"Austin told me to give this to you."

He walked away without another word. Puzzled, she unwrapped the folded letter and read Austin's scribbly handwriting inside.

**4:10, meet me back at my bus and you better be ready to tell me what's actually bothering you because I'm not playing this "you need to get away from me" game anymore. It's not cute. So talk to me.**

**-AC.**

She folded the letter and put it in her pocket.

"What's that?" Jeff asked, slinging the case for his bass on his shoulder.

"Austin...he wants to meet me at four back at his bus," she said flatly.

Andrew pulled out his phone. "Three-fifty now. You better go."

Danielle grimaced and attempted to make an excuse but all the boys began shoving her out of the trailer.

Giving in so they wouldn't push her anymore, she walked away from the stage as Chunk! No Captain Chunk! started their set. She hurried across the venue, receiving a lot of waves and asks for autographs. She quickly said she would be right back and continued toward the buses. What was she doing? She was about to throw a whole year and a half worth of a relationship down the drain by talking to some famous guy who only considered her as much as a fan.

She didn't really take it into consideration much though, because she soon found herself knocking on the Of Mice & Men tour bus door only seconds later. Almost immediately, a sweaty Austin opened it. She climbed onto the bus and he closed the door behind her, sitting down on the couch with her after. They sat there awkwardly in silence as he checked his phone. He put it away and sat up, looking at her. He didn't look all that happy.

"Spill it. Now."

"I'm so sorry about what I said yesterday. I didn't think and—"

"I don't care about that, Dani," he interjected. "What's bothering you?"

She bit her lip, trying to find the best way to bring this up. "Well, the night you posted a picture to Instagram, you know there were a lot of comments that were...well...you know..." He kept a vacant face. Awkwardly, she continued on. "Trace, my boyfriend, saw it and said that I can't talk to you anymore and that when we get to New York, he'll make sure I stay away from you. He can't see anymore stuff about us or he'll go nuts."

Austin didn't say anything for a moment. She looked away, not sure what else to say.

"What a prick," he finally said.

"No, no...he's just scared of losing me."

"I told you, he should trust you enough."

"Yeah, but he—we kind of have a past."

"What kind of _past?_" Austin asked with a sneer.

She swallowed hard, trying to get the words out. "He—when we fight, he gets aggressive and—"

Suddenly, Austin was on his feet. "Whoa!" He stopped her, an angry look on his face. "Are you saying he abuses you?"

She didn't know how else to put it. She just stared at him.

"Like, he physically _hurts_ you?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Not just physically." She let out a nervous laugh. For a moment, he stared dumbfounded at her. Once the gears in his head began turning, his eyes widened.

"I really shouldn't be telling you this." She got up and began pacing the room, her hand over her mouth.

"Why—in God's name—are you still dating him?" He asked as calmly as possible.

"Because I'm scared." The words caught in her throat. She covered her face as tears formed in her eyes.

"Does your band know this?" He asked softly. She nodded. "And?"

"They try to protect me and whenever we fight and I'm home alone, one of them lets me stay with him," she said, looking up with tears still streaming down her face. She looked away, feeling embarrassed. "I'm so sorry for crying."

Austin pulled her into a tight hug. She wrapped her arms around his waist, crying into his sweaty shirt. He pet her hair down, letting her cry it out. After a few moments, he looked down at her.

"You're surrounded by guys that love you, Dani. That dickhead even tries to come within ten feet of you and he's history. I'll let some of the others know about him and we'll all help keep you safe."

"Please don't tell them the details, oh my God."

"I'm not an idiot," he laughed. She missed that smile. "So you've got a signing in an hour!" He put out his hand. "Shall we?"


	5. Five

The next four days were a lot better. Danielle told the guys about what happened and they promised to keep her as safe as possible, just like Austin had—which she already expected. As for Trace himself, she continued answering his texts, but she wasn't going to let him keep her down anymore. Not while she was on tour. Not ever.

They got another few days break in Chula Vista in another fancy hotel. Wanting to get some fresh air, Danielle and Erick headed out just as Vic was. She always felt awkward around Vic. He had a very dry sense of humor but at the same time, she loved his jokes. He was always someone she could see keeping around as a best friend. But he never really said much to her. In a way, she had an odd feeling he kind of hated her.

"Take this as a special treat, Dani," Vic said during their walk downtown.

"For what?" She asked.

"For having a dick for a boyfriend," he said flatly. Danielle let out a laugh but Vic kept the same, straight face. "Mexican restaurant?" He asked.

"Oh yeah!" Erick said.

They walked into a small Mexican restaurant in town to Vic's excitement, and ordered a whole load of food. Danielle attempted to refuse the food they shoved down her throat, but they wouldn't let her leave until she had a full stomach.

"I think out of everyone," Vic started, looking at the placemat under his utensils. "Trace would be scared of Ronnie the most."

"Didn't he say something about how he didn't like him?" Erick asked Danielle.

"Yeah, he says he's a fake who has no real talent and should have died in jail," she replied, picking at the nachos in the middle of the table.

"I'd love to see him say that to Ronnie's face," Erick mumbled.

"I've noticed you and Austin are slowly mending your friendship, too." Vic flashed a provocative smirk at her. Her heart lit up; he actually showed some more emotion toward her other than a blank stare.

"Emphasis on _friend_ship."

Vic nodded, raising skeptical eyebrows. "Of course. Why would it be anything else?"

"Zombie!" Danielle cried as she rapidly pressed the X button on her PlayStation's game controller.

"Must you say that every time?" Andrew asked, watching her and Austin multi-play on their big screen, while he pretended to do something on his computer.

"Hell yes, I do—zombie!"

Austin found it quite amusing so she didn't really care what the others thought.

The second day had mostly been dedicated to her spending more time with Austin and the guys. They were slowly becoming better friends and even finding out more about each other. Trace still had no clue and she liked it better that way. Though she hardly answered him and he would get upset, she was learning not to really care.

Just then, there was a knock on the door. Andrew got up to answer it. Danielle heard a happy, British voice at the door—Jenna McDougall. She hugged Andrew and then got on the tour bus, hugging the rest of the guys before basically tackling Danielle to the floor, who screamed when she dropped her controller.

"I missed you!" Jenna cried.

"Yeah, I missed you, too! Can I play my zombie game now?" Danielle asked, reaching for the controller.

"Rude." Jenna removed herself from Danielle's neck and stuck her tongue out at her. Danielle did the same back.

"Oh my god, are we going to see a girl fight?" Erick asked, his eyes lighting up. The rest of them laughed.

"We should have a cuddle fest again tonight," Jeff said with a smirk. "With Jenna, too, except she and Danielle can cuddle and we'll just take pictures and put them up on Instagram."

"Think Trace will get jealous of that, too?" Erick joked. Danielle gave him a cautionary look. "Kidding."

"Cuddle fest?" Austin asked, amused.

"We have a pile of blankets in the back room and they just sort of formed there when we were packing for our tour; we joked about how we were eventually going to have a cuddle fest all together," Danielle explained. "We had one the night Trace and I got into a fight."

"You haven't dumped that asshole already?" Jenna asked. Danielle shook her head no. "Do it soon, or I'll do it for you."

"I'm working on it, Jen—FUCKING ZOMBIES!"

The bus erupted in laughter, easing Danielle's tension. She liked being around these guys more than she liked being around her own family.

And she _loved _her family.

"Now, who here has ever had some dick try to control your life and mentally, physically, or even sexually hurt you to the point where you thought there was no return from that?" Danielle asked over the crowd of hundreds of people in front of her. A good bunch of them screamed. "I'm living proof that you can turn around and make things right. Screw that person and live your own life. You have people that care about you and they will never let that person hurt you again." The crowd erupted in shouts once more. "This song is _Thornless _and it goes a little something like this..."

Danielle had never been so into a show in her entire life. She felt like things were finally getting better and she didn't have to worry about Trace anymore. All she had to do was ease her way into breaking it off. It was harder than she thought it would be, but she knew she would eventually have to do it.

Austin watched the end of her set and even ran out on stage near the end of her last song. Unexpectedly, he picked her up and she started screaming at him to put her down. He stole her microphone and spoke to the crowd, "would anybody like a free Danielle?" With the help of Erick, they threw her into the crowd. She screamed loudly as several hands caught her. Once she made it back to the stage, Austin helped her up and screamed the last few lines of her song while she sang. It made a nice touch, she had to admit.

"You did amazing today," Austin said, walking with her to the signing tent. She laughed nervously.

"Maybe if you hadn't thrown me into the crowd, I'd be saying thanks!" She pushed him playfully.

"I could see it in your eyes, you enjoyed that!"

"It was still terrifying!" She and the rest of the guys sat down at the table and waited for kids to line up.

"I know you'll do it again," he nudged her.

"I hate you." She laughed.

He played a beat on the table before asking her a surprising question. "So, tonight, just you and me—what do you say we get some food before hitting the road?"

She felt like she was in a dream. For a few minutes, she just sort of stared at him. Did that really just happen? Was he asking her out? She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out.

Austin snapped his fingers in front of her face.

"Earth to Danielle?" He laughed nervously. "Is that a no?"

"What? No!" She finally came to, organizing their table as she still processed the request in her mind. Once she put the samples of all their merch on the table and the guys took their seat, she met eyes with him again, taking a deep breath.

"I'd love to," she said with a smile.

"Awesome." He kissed the side of her head before getting up and leaving the tent. He cupped his hand over his mouth and yelled, "A Different Salvation signing, over here!" He smiled at the band and waved a goodbye before running off.

"Just a friend, my ass," Erick murmured to her as the first fan came to their table.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry it's really short and sorta uninteresting. Hope you guys enjoy it though!**


	6. Six

_A/N: Really quick! Just wanted to say, thank you to those of you that reviewed. You don't even understand how much motivation it gives me to keep writing these things and how much it honestly makes my day. c: As said before, I have a lot of chapters typed out and I'm just wanting to get rid of them. I really hope you guys enjoy the rest of the story because trust me - it's about to get real interesting real soon. ;)_

* * *

"Get bitten by a rattlesnake or a black widow?"

"How about...I live?" Danielle laughed, biting into her macaroni and cheese.

"That's no fun!" Austin said, laughing.

"Because it's a load of fun being bitten by poisonous creatures," Danielle remarked sarcastically. Austin smiled and shook his head, twirling his spaghetti around his fork. "What about you?"

"Probably a rattlesnake, just because spiders make me nervous. Have you heard about that one time a spider ate through my flesh? It was disgusting."

She laughed at him.

"I'm serious!" He said with a laugh before stuffing the twirled up spaghetti in his mouth. "Plus I like snakes. I like all animals."

"You're something else, Austin, with your crazy, random 'would-you-rather' questions."

"I just like to make things fun and interesting—especially on tour. Singing those songs on stage helps me get through the day. Talking to fans and hearing them tell me their life story and about how I saved their life is what helps me fall asleep loving who I've become." He met her eyes, which were staring intently at him, intrigued. "And what about you?"

"Me?" She raised a quizzical eyebrow.

"What do you love about touring so far?"

A crooked smile plastered on her face. "Knowing that I've got a unique way of showing my battle scars—without actually showing them. For people to feel a connection with my songs is just amazing. And I mean, years ago, I never would have thought I would be here in California, sitting in a diner with Austin Carlile."

"You worked hard for it." Austin smiled at her; she looked down, feeling slightly embarrassed.

They called for the check and paid at the front desk, walking back to the venue.

"So, how's the boyfriend this evening?" He asked, shoving his hands in his jacket's pockets.

"Wouldn't know," Danielle said flatly. "I haven't answered him since this morning. The constant texts have finally stopped. I'll probably text him before I go to sleep."

Austin nodded curtly. "Just remember, we're here for you."

Once they got to the buses, Austin walked Danielle over to hers. He leaned against the door and looked studiously at the ground. She watched him awkwardly, unsure of why he was leaning against the only entrance to her bus and not saying a word.

"Do you think I'm leading you on?" He peeked up at her from beneath his lashes.

She stared at him, shocked. That was unexpected.

"Why would you say that?" She asked cautiously.

"People are saying I am...and I'm sorry if I come off that way."

Her mouth dropped. She didn't know what to say, so she just laughed it off, trying to find the right words to say.

"Don't worry, Austin, I didn't really read into it." She went to climb the steps of her bus, wanting to get away now and end this whole awkward situation.

"I don't believe that." He grabbed her arm back and looked at her with sad eyes. "You just deserve to know the truth. I like you, Danielle, but I don't want you to think I'm looking for something I'm not."

Her heart felt like it was sinking. She bit her lip back and nodded, quickly looking away from those puppy-dog eyes. "Okay. I'm tired though, I really want to just hit the road and go to bed."

He nodded. But before he let her go, he pulled her into a long hug. She wasn't sure where he was going with this, but all she needed was for someone to see and tweet/Instagram about it. She pulled away once she felt like it was going on much longer than it needed to and smiled at him awkwardly. Finally, he said goodnight quietly and walked away, leaving her hanging with wonder.

She watched him curiously until he climbed aboard his bus. Once he disappeared, she shook the wandering thoughts from her head and opened her door, silently walking inside without a word to the rest of her band, knowing all they would do was tease her—and that was the last thing she wanted after that conversation.


	7. Seven

Danielle paced quietly back and forth in the bus, biting off her cuticles as she did so. Two weeks. Two weeks until she had to see Trace. What was she going to do?

She sighed to herself, throwing her arms back and forth in front of her, attempting to shake off the nerves. She wanted to break up with him. She just didn't know how. She continued biting her cuticles, looking out their window positioned above their couch.

"Dani, stop freaking out; you still have a few weeks to figure this out," Erick said, as he got ready for their set. She shook her head frantically, running her hands through her hair.

How could she not freak out when the boy who's obsessed with her wouldn't even answer a lousy text message? What if he saw something about her and Austin online? What if he's done what he's always threatened to do? What if he was coming for her right _now?_

"He hasn't answered me since this morning. What the hell is he doing?" She curled up on the couch, hugging her knees to her chest.

"He's probably busy! You're all the way in Texas. There's no way he's coming out here for you." Erick rolled his eyes and headed for the door.

Finally understanding how ridiculous she was being, Danielle followed Erick out into the hot, summery air and proceeded across the venue behind him. She passed the Kia Soul Stage, where Of Mice & Men playing at that moment. Aystin was too busy to see her walking by, but that didn't really matter to her right now. He was acting strange the last few days. Ever since that night they had dinner together, he seemed to be a lot nicer to her. It was beginning to piss her off, actually.

"_Let me buy your breakfast/lunch/dinner."_

"_Do you want me to kick all the asses of people that make fun of you?"_

"_Here, have this Belle Barbie doll; I have like ten of the same kind and I think you kind of look like her anyway."_

"_Austin, I don't want it. A fan gave it to you, it's yours."_

"_I know! But you never get presents so I want you to have her! It's nothing personal. She won't care, I still have her letter."_

"_No, Austin."_

Why was he acting like this?

Danielle and Erick met up with the rest of the band behind the Ernie Ball stage as iwrestledabearonce came off. Danielle took in deep, slow breaths and hopped around, getting her adrenaline pumping while the crew set up.

She followed the rest of the band on stage and overlooked the screaming crowd with a big smile on her face. She motioned for more screams and the crowd got louder. Satisfied, she finally started talking to them.

"Dallas, man, the weather's brutal." She laughed, walking across the stage. "We're going to sing a couple songs for you and I want to hear you all screaming at the top of your lungs with me!" The crowd cheered and she smiled once more as Erick played the first chord of their song.

.&.

"Dani!" She turned to the sound of her name and saw two girls with a camcorder in one of their hands come up to her. "Mind if we interview you for our YouTube channel? It'd help our publicity a lot!"

"Sure thing! Come on, I was just headed to my bus." She led the young girls to the bus parking lot on the other end of the venue and leaned against her bus. One girl stood beside her with a small microphone while the other girl began recording.

"I'm here today with lead singer, Danielle Perry from a recently exploited band, A Different Salvation. So Dani, what's Warped Tour like for you so far?"

"Well, it's been a lot of fun," Danielle admitted. "Honestly, I never want this summer to be over. I mean, this is the biggest tour ever and I'm surprised at how many fans we have across the country."

"Well, isn't it true Austin from Of Mice & Men helped out your band's career?"

"Yeah," Danielle scratched her forehead nervously. "He followed me on Twitter a few years ago and just kept in touch with me ever since we met; he got word out there that we had an EP out and now, here we are."

"That's awesome," the girl said with a smile. "Do you and the band have any fun memories so far?"

"Well," Danielle laughed. "During one of the first days on tour, I was in a pretty bad mood because of a personal situation, so the guys and I had this inside joke that one of the days on tour, we would have a cuddle fest on the back of the bus where this large pile of blankets and pillows are. And that night, it turned out we had one."

The girl laughed along with her, reading her paper for the next question. "I'm sure you've noticed your Twitter account being blown up recently." Danielle nodded, knowing where this was headed. "There's rumors going around that you and Austin are secretly dating. Care to elaborate on said rumors?"

She smiled, looking into the camera. "Listen, I see the hate and I see the tweets that say how much you 'ship' me and Austin. I love the guy to death and we're really great friends but I have a boyfriend back at home that I've been with for about a year and a half now. Sorry if you're disappointed; you're welcome if you're relieved."

The girl nodded, not putting in any input to the situation. "We interviewed another 'not-so-famous' band earlier and when asked about all the other unknown bands, they said you were the best out of all of them because you were a girl that could scream. How did you learn to do that?"

"Practice, man. Just lots of practice. But thank you to whoever said that about us! I'm sure you're awesome as well."

"Anything else you'd like to say before we sign off?"

"Pugs not drugs, and you're all beautiful." Danielle smiled as the girl switched the camera off. They shook hands with Danielle and walked back into the venue.

.&.

"I love you so much," a girl said in broken sobs with locked arms around Austin. He comforted her and held her close. This was the third time she had said it so far. Finally, the girl let go and wiped away her tears, telling him quickly how grateful she was to meet him before quickly kissing him on the cheek and walking away, still in tears. Austin smiled when he saw Danielle standing a few feet in front of him.

"I remember the day I was basically like that," she said with a laugh.

"You didn't crying though."

She laughed again. "I wanted to. I just didn't want to look like an ugly wreck in front of you."

"You could never look like an ugly wreck," he retorted quickly. Danielle raised a brow in skepticism. Another fan came up, asking for a signing and a picture. Once she left, he looked back at Danielle while taking a huge gulp of water.

"I see him in two weeks," she said softly. Drawing back his lips, he stretched out his arms and wrapped her into a hug bigger than the one he gave the crying fan.

"What are you planning to do when we get there and you see him?" He asked softly into her hair.

Wrapping her arms more firmly around Austin's neck, she shrugged. "Cry and run away," she said with a nervous laugh. "I know it's got to end...I'm just scared."

"I'll be here. Your guys will be here. We're all watching out for you on this tour, Dani. You may not notice it but we really are. I will never let anything bad happen to you as long as I'm around."

She squeezed her eyes shut and nodded. Austin gave her one last squeeze before letting her go. "I'm off to the Aspire & Create tent." He held onto her hands as he walked backward. "Go hang out with Kellin or Jenna, or someone. Please."

He ran off and she wandered off. She checked the giant, blown up band set times. Sleeping With Sirens and Tonight Alive were both playing at opposite ends of the venue. She blew a strand of hair out of her face and walked away in frustration. She rarely saw any of the others; they always had something else to do. She headed for the bus parking lot again, thinking of only one last place to go.

Once she was by the buses, she walked down the lot quickly, finally getting to the Of Mice & Men bus. She knocked on the door loudly, hoping someone would answer. To her luck, the door opened and a tired looking Alan peeked his head out of the door.

"Dani?"

"I'm sorry. Austin's at the Aspire & Create tent and I can't find anyone else. Do you mind if I stay in here for a while?"

"No, not at all!" Alan pushed the door open wider. Danielle made her way in, finally feeling the ease drop off her shoulders. "You look like you haven't slept in days..." he said, concerned.

"This whole thing is stressing me out. I can barely sleep or eat. It's driving me nuts. The closer it comes to seeing Trace, the more freaked I get!"

"Hey, hey, hey!" Alan said, grabbing her flailing arms and looking her in the eyes calmly. "Everything is fine. We're miles away from New York. There's no way he can get here on time and chase you around the country."

She nodded in agreement, just like she did with Erick, and slowly sank down on the large, leather couch. "Maybe you should just take a nap," Alan suggested. She nodded, lying down and staring at the large TV hitched on the wall in front of her. "I'll wake you up in a few hours, okay?" He threw a small blanket over her to keep her comfortable.

Danielle nodded one last time before soundlessly falling asleep.


	8. Eight

"Danielle!"

Danielle stirred in her sleep. She wasn't sure if she was dreaming or not, so she ignored the voice calling out to her.

"Danielle!" The voice called out again. That's when she started to get agitated.

Pounding footsteps and a door opening loudly surged her awake. Erick and Andrew were standing in front of her with terrified looks on their faces. She finally sat up and rubbed her eyes.

"What?" She asked with a yawn.

Alan walked out from the back soon afterward, disturbed by the noise.

"Well thanks for knocking," he said sarcastically.

"This is important." Erick shoved his phone in Danielle's face. Adjusting her eye's focus, she stared at his screen for a few seconds before quickly jumping to her feet.

"No. No. No. This cannot be happening. Oh my—_shit!_" She pulled her phone out and saw that she had five missed calls and sixteen unread texts from Trace. She stared at Erick's screen again, a hand across her forehead. "Why would someone do this?!"

On Erick's screen was a photo set on Instagram of her and Austin's tight embrace and their quick hand holding before he ran away. They were both tagged in it; the caption read: C_utest. . EVER. I hope they get married one day._

"That's not all." Erick took his phone back and scrolled through it before handing it back to her. If her eyes grew any larger, they would have popped out of her skull at the next photo on Erick's screen. A different person posted a picture of her talking to Alan before entering the bus. And, of course, the caption read: _Sorry, Austin, innocent Danielle's a little "ho fo sho." _This girl had tagged Austin in the picture, too.

Speaking of Austin, he suddenly came running in. His eyes landed on everyone in the bus in a few split seconds. When he saw Danielle with a hand over her gaping mouth, his eyes turned fearful.

"What has he said?" Were the first words out of his mouth. Suddenly realizing she hadn't checked any of her messages, she opened them quickly. Half of them were of Trace demanding an explanation as to what those pictures were about. The others were of him yelling at her to "pick up the damn phone." She looked at Austin, ready to call Trace back. He shook his head. "Don't. You'll make it worse, Dani, please don't."

"If I don't—"

"He can't fucking touch you!" Austin screamed, suddenly making the rest of the bus feel uncomfortable. "I don't care if I have to throw your phone halfway across the parking lot to make you stop that phone call because believe me, Danielle, I _will _do it."

She stared at him, horrified. He still looked like he was in pain and she didn't understand why. He wasn't the one who was stuck with this fear that his life could be over with a single phone call. She looked down at her phone, her finger hovering over the call button.

"Dani..." She heard Erick say. She looked up at him now. He had the same expression as Austin.

Like a lightning flash, she ran out of the bus and tore across the lot with Austin and the rest of them screaming her name only a few feet behind her. She sprinted harder than she ever had before getting to her own bus. She tore the door open and locked it shut behind her. A few moments later, she heard a bunch of fists pounding on the door, demanding her to open it.

"Danielle!" Austin screamed through the door.

She sat in the bunking room on the floor, ready to dial. Her breath was coming out fast and shaky. She could feel her palms sweating. Her heart was beating fast—and she knew that wasn't just from running halfway across the parking lot.

"It's not worth it! He's just going to make you feel like shit!" Austin continued screaming through the door.

She uttered a small apology under her breath and dialed Trace's number. It rang a few times, each one making her heart beat even faster. Once he picked up, she felt like something had pierced her through. A small sob escaped her lips before he even began talking.

"You think it's cute messing with two different guys?"

"No. It's not like that at all."

"Humor me then, Danielle. Tell me what it is exactly you're not doing with Austin Carlile? I specifically told you not to talk to him anymore. I told you you would regret it. If you don't stop being a little slut, you can kiss your career goodbye. Is that clear?"

She kept a hand clamped over her mouth to keep in the rest of her sobs. She had never been this terrified of him before in her life. She didn't know what to do. Slowly, she lowered her head between her knees, incapable of even saying anything without it coming out as a sob.

"I said, _is that clear_?!" Trace shouted on the end of the line.

She was disrupted when she heard the door burst open. Unable to move, Austin picked her up off the floor and pried the phone from her hands, gluing it to his ear. Erick held her back, softly telling her to just take deep breaths and calm down.

"I'm only going to say this once, Trace," Austin said into the receiver bitterly. His tone made Danielle even more nervous. Now, she was _really_screwed. "You even so _think _about laying a single finger on that poor girl and you can bet your ass that you'll be beaten to a bloody pulp at the Darien Center."

"Austin!" Danielle reached for the phone but he pushed her into Alan, staring into her eyes with his mouth in a straight line. He was definitely pissed. She had never seen him this angry.

"Oh, so this is little, baby Austin," Trace said. "You wouldn't be able to take me on if your life depended on it. Why don't you go cut yourself and complain about your dead mother to your horny fangirls. Wouldn't your wife, Gielle, be pretty concerned if she knew you were with another girl on tour _again—_oh, wait..."

His hand suddenly clenched tightly around Danielle's phone. "Go to hell."

"You're actually pretty funny, Austin," Trace said with a laugh. "But stay away from my girlfriend. She's not yours and she never will be."

Austin stared at Danielle's pitifully agonized face. She continued reaching for her phone and Alan continued to pull her back, asking her politely to stop.

"She doesn't deserve the shit you put her through. I swear to God when I see you, you'll wish you never did the horrible things you've done to her. I'm the one that made her realize she's worth it—not _you_." With that, Austin ended the call and Alan let Danielle go.

Austin handed her the phone. She clutched it helplessly in her hands while staring at the blank screen. She suddenly began punching Austin in the chest, catching him by surprise. All the guys pulled her away but she broke from their grasp, her heart beating against her ribcage.

"What the hell's the matter with you!" She asked angrily.

Austin stared at her in disbelief. "I just saved your ass, you should be thanking me!"

"You just killed me, Austin! He's going to ruin me!"

"Not with me around, he's not."

"You don't get it!" Danielle let out a small laugh. "He lives to stalk me and ruin my life. There's things you don't know about him and me, Austin. He will mentally and physically _ruin _me."

Austin stared blankly at her, unsure of what to say. She pushed past him, hurrying into the back room and shutting the door. She turned the lock as quickly as possible before Austin attempted to pry it open.

"I'm just trying to help," he said softly through the door.

"Go away."

She waited and listened. He talked in hush tones to the other guys and swore she heard him say _"I'll come back later." _She eased away from the door and sat down on the large pile of blankets, wrapping herself up inside and quietly falling back into a slumber.

.&.

"I remember when I first met her, she always had this huge smile on her face like she was hiding something that she wanted to tell everyone," a quiet voice said in the dark. "She talked about running away and finding a place where no one knew her name but eventually would. She never wanted to see things in reality perspective."

Danielle heard a small laugh in her ear. That's when she felt fingers softly tucking her dark hair back, causing a relaxing, tickling experience against her neck.

"When I first met her..." the voice next to her said, "She came up to me and her eyes had suddenly given this spark. She threw her arms around me and just kept saying thank you—over and over and over again. She told me about how I saved her life—multiple times—and how she wanted to start a band and travel the world. The girl had so much passion behind her words. I wanted to know about her success. I wanted to help her because she deserved it. So I did...if I had known about Trace all those years ago, I would have saved her then."

"Not your fault. She didn't even know him."

"Yeah," Austin said, his voice breaking. "And she never should have."

She then turned around to face the two figures in the dark. Austin immediately stopped touching her hair and backed away, like he was scared she was about to start punching him again. She squinted at him and Erick in the dark. She checked her phone. It was almost one in the morning. When she looked out the window beside their pile of blankets, she realized they were moving. Why was Austin on their bus?

"Shouldn't you be on your bus?" She asked groggily.

"I knew I needed to see you and apologize," he said, sitting up again.

"I'll...I'll leave you two be," Erick smirked at Danielle and left the room. She wanted so badly to slap him across the face. Even in these matters, her guys couldn't be serious.

"I am really sorry," Austin said, looking into her eyes. Groaning, she fell back onto the pillow and threw the blanket over her head. She knew he was hovering over her but she was still surprised when she heard him speaking so closely to her ear. "I just know you don't deserve someone like him. He's not worth your time and effort, Dani. He's a scumbag and deserves to rot in jail for the shit he's done to you."

"Why does that matter?" Danielle's muffled voice said. "You're not my boyfriend. He's not scared of you and your empty threats."

He let out a small laugh. He climbed over and lied next to her, pulling the covers down from around her face. "Please forgive me."

She turned around quickly, covering her head once more. "Why should I?" He sat up, trying to pry the covers away again, but she held them tightly over her head.

"Because I know I don't deserve it but I care about you."

"You're right, you don't deserve it," she said bitterly. There was silence. Next thing she knew, she had no control over her own voice. She just started bitching.

"You're so confusing. You ask me to have dinner with you. Then, that same night, you tell me that you like me but you're not leading me on—what the hell does that even _mean? _And then, for these past few days you keep offering me shit like I'm of some high importance. I'm not, Austin. I'm just Danielle Perry; that's all I'll ever be. If you don't mind it, I'd appreciate it if you made up your mind already."

Silence filled the room again. She thought for a second that maybe he was giving up. She threw the covers off her head to finally look at him and was taken by surprise when she saw his face merely inches above hers.

He smiled and folded loose strands of her hair away from her face. He swallowed hard and continued to search her eyes. If she inched her head up just the tiniest bit, she would know what those lips felt like. But she knew she couldn't; she _wouldn't_ do it.

"I don't want to fight with you because you're one of the coolest girls I've ever met and I don't know what I'd do if we almost lost each other again. I've been waiting months to see you and I'm not going to let it just fold out like this and never talk to you for the rest of the tour. I don't care if I have to take you out on stage with me while we're in the New York area and drag you along while I take a shit..." they both started laughing for a few quick moments before it turned serious again. "I won't let anything bad happen to you. If I break that commitment, I will personally take full responsibility. And that douche will have to sleep with one eye open until I find him because I'll rip his brain right out of his skull."

A smile curled across Danielle's lips. She nodded, finally breaking their too long eye contact. His hands were both spread on either side of her so she couldn't escape him either way if she wanted to. "Okay..." she looked back up at him. "I forgive you."

She was glad to see a smile reach his lips as well. They were back to normal. Everything was the way it should be.

Austin leaned down during the middle of her large grin and pressed his own lips to hers. She didn't react at first. She didn't know what to do.

Then, she gently pushed him off. He looked at her, a look of shock across his own face. If there was ever a time when he sent the most mixed signals, this was it. Or maybe...this was a bright, flashing neon sign. Either way, her head was suddenly reeling and her eyes just got wider as they stared at each other in the dark. Austin attempted to find words to say. But she was just paralyzed.

_Oh my god..._ she thought. _I just kissed Austin Carlile._


	9. Nine

"You have to talk to him sometime."

Danielle shook her head no, staring out at the cheering crowd of Montana.

Last night, after Austin kissed her, she hurried out of the room, followed by an apologizing Austin. She shut herself away in her bunk, telling him to just leave her be. When he tried to tear away the curtain, she kept it closed, insisting that she wasn't mad.

Eventually, he left her alone. She sat in her bunk, lying awake for most of the night. While the rest of the band went to sleep, Andrew squeezed into her bunk. She quietly informed him about what had happened. At first, a large smile grew on his face but after she punched his arm, his face became serious.

"Constantly running from the guy isn't going to solve your problems." he said while massaging the spot on his arm Danielle had punched. "It's all so obvious you two like each other; _talk _like normal human beings!"

Danielle locked her eyes with his. She said, "That's the problem, Drew. You know why I can't like him. This has turned into more than just a crush and...I think it's going way too out of hand."

Andrew raised an eyebrow. "Trace is a little bitch. Sorry, but you really need to just realize that it's over."

"If I end it, do you know what he's going to do to me?"

"It's all a bluff! He can't do shit to you! Get some sleep, Dani. We'll be in Montana in only a few hours." He leaned forward, kissing Danielle's forehead before climbing down and shutting her curtain. She fell asleep to the silent snores of Erick below her, but she never felt like she actually got the rest she needed.

The next morning, the guys just shared concerned looks with one another as they got ready for their set. Danielle attempted to ignore it. She didn't understand why they were acting so strange. She already told Andrew the story; she told him how she wasn't mad or upset—she was confused. The last thing she wanted was to develop feelings for someone that may possibly not work out in the end. She liked Austin a lot; she admitted that to herself already but it scared her to no end when she thought about Trace. Even just now, it gave her a shiver in the eighty degree weather.

She took a deep breath. About to follow her band on stage, a hand suddenly pulled her arm back. She spun around, meeting familiar, puppy brown eyes.

"Be amazing out there today, all right?" Austin said breathlessly. Obviously, he must have run here. She just stared at him before slowly nodding. He let go of her and she hurried out on stage, a large grin on her face. Austin couldn't help but smile when he saw her face light up like that. No matter what she was going through, she could always walk out on stage with the biggest smile on. That took true commitment.

Too bad it was only for the crowd. The minute she walked off stage, that smile would be gone. Without worrying much about that, he leaned against the stage's column and watched her begin her first song.

.&.

After endless pleadings from Alan and her own band, she finally agreed to speak with Austin. They locked her in her tour bus, where she sat and waited on the couch, wishing she could leave. She twisted her hands together. Her stomach tied in knots every time she thought about last night. He_kissed her _without even _warning her. _It made her cheeks turn bright pink whenever she thought about it.

When the door opened, she jumped, watching Austin walk in with an emotionless look on his face. He finished the rest of his Monster and threw it in the trash can under one of the counters before sitting down, facing her. He took off his sunglasses and rubbed his eyes, looking at her. He looked like he hadn't slept in days. Neither of them spoke at first. Austin was looking down at his leg, picking at his jeans. And finally, he decided to talk first.

"Sophomore year," he began slowly. His voice had surprised her and made her jump slightly. "I liked this girl. We hung out all the time and I would always say hi to her in the halls. I always thought that there was a slight possibility that she liked me because of the way she acted when she was around me. Come to find out, she only pitied me.

"I was the one who decided to make a move one day. She was just sitting on my floor, looking pretty and laughing; I leaned in and kissed her." He looked up at Danielle. Guiltily, she looked down. "She pushed me away and we never spoke again. I constantly tried to talk to her, but she barely gave me a hello."

Danielle looked up to see a pained expression on his face. She stuck her bottom lip out. It hurt her to see him like this.

"Everybody found out. They all called me pathetic—thinking _I _could get with one of the prettiest girls in school. Every guy wanted her. Not that she was the _only _girl I ever liked. I did date other girls in high school, but she was something I wanted more than anyone—as if that was new to her." Danielle felt a slight twinge of jealousy. She shifted uncomfortably. Austin finally changed the subject, luckily for her.

"I found out she eventually started dating one of the kids that hated and picked on me; he treated her like shit." He let out a small laugh. "She stayed with him for years. When Of Mice & Men started becoming popular, she showed back up in my life; said she 'changed her mind about me.' It took all the willpower I had to remember what she did to me all those years ago and to tell her off. She ended up breaking up with the guy...and now she has nowhere to live."

He met Danielle's eyes. "It sucks to like someone and then have them push you away and make you feel worthless."

Danielle felt like crying. She shook her head. "I didn't mean to push you away like that. You took me by surprise, I—"

"What is it going to take to have you completely trust and be comfortable around me?" He asked, sounding a bit angrier. "I would do anything just to see that gorgeous smile on your face for the rest of your life. For most of this tour, that douche you call a boyfriend has done nothing but make you sad! He is the main reason you're hurting, Dani!" He held her face, forcing her to look at him. "You don't have to hurt anymore if you just let go."

A tear slid down her cheek. Austin used his thumb to brush it away. "He's not my boyfriend," she stated. "I broke up with him after my set today."

Austin's eyes were wide. "You did it..." he said quietly, a small smile forming on his face. "I'm so proud of you."

"He's probably going to kill me." She let out a small laugh.

"No." Austin shook his head, stroking his thumb across her cheek again. "He won't get near you. Like I said, I'll do anything to see you smile. If that means constantly trying to cheer you up at one in the morning, so be it."

Danielle nodded, more tears falling down her face. "Thank you."

He smiled. "You're welcome, Dani."

It hit her just like a speeding train. One minute, she was looking into his eyes, the next she had her lips locked on his. When they separated, they both stared at each other and suddenly began laughing quietly. Danielle shook her head.

"I can't believe this," she said.

He smiled, pushing a strand of hair away from her face. "I like how pretty you look so close up," he said tritely.

She stuck her tongue out at him. "You're too much of a charmer, Mr. Carlile."

"That's what they all say." He smiled once more before she leaned in and kissed him softly. "I want you to know that the night I said those things—about leading you on—I was scared. I'm still scared. You know about my past, you know what's happened. Having a girlfriend isn't exactly on my priority list right now."

She nodded when his eyes dropped.

"But I can't just pretend I don't have feelings for you. You and I both know we've liked each other for a while and this is exactly how it all started out last time with—"

Danielle grabbed both sides of his face, her lips curling up in a small smile. "You're one of the most amazing guys I've ever met in my life. I won't let you slip through my fingers so easily."

A smile crept on his face. She leaned forward and kissed him again, taking in the moment.

Never would she have imagined this day would come.

.&.

"What's up, Indiana!"

The whole crowd in front of Danielle screamed loudly. She laughed into the mic and told everyone to bring it to a dull roar.

"Now, I know you all have been asking 'what the hell is up with Danielle and that Austin Carlile dude?'" Before she could barely finish the sentence, most of the crowd began screaming. "Well, I'd just like to let you all know..." She stared off the stage at the goofy-grinned Austin. She looked back at the crowd, taking in all their anticipated faces. "It's none of your goddamn business." She smiled when half the crowd shouted in protest. She and Austin exchanged winks before she started into her first song.

.&.

_I know you guys are dating, give in already._

_You're a desperate cry for attention._

_Lol, why would Austin date you?_

_I won't pry, but if you and Austin are dating, I wish you the happiest!_

Tweets like that blew up her phone after her last set as she walked with Austin to his meet and greet tent. She read them off to him; he laughed at almost each one. They both agreed to put off the publicity of their relationship for a short while. They weren't technically classified as an item but they've obviously made it known to each other that they both like one another.

"It's pathetic how much people care about what I'm constantly doing," Danielle said, locking her phone and shoving it in her back pocket. As they walked through the venue, several people eyed them curiously and hatefully.

"Welcome to my own life," Austin said, ducking under the tent.

"How long are you doing this for?" She asked, joining him. People began lining up quickly, waiting impatiently for Austin to sign their things.

"About an hour or so," he responded, grabbing a Sharpie out from under the table. He said hello to the girl as she nervously handed him her Of Mice & Men CD. After he opened it and signed it, he gave it back and her a quick hug. "Phil and Tino were talking about playing a round of _Left 4 Dead_afterward. You on?" He smirked.

"You know me and zombies." Danielle smiled.

"Are you guys seriously dating?" The girl next in line asked as Austin took her CD and signed it. Austin let out a small chuckle; Danielle rolled her eyes. "Stop keeping everyone on the rumor borderline, come on!"

"Austin's dating Alan!" Danielle said with matter-of-fact.

"Yeah, I thought you all knew that." He played along, handing the CD back. The girl shook her head.

"I'll get it out of you two, just you wait." The girl gave Austin and Danielle a quick hug before sprinting off.

"I'll wait for you in your bus?" Danielle said, ready to walk away. Austin gave a pout, making her laugh. "I'll see you in an hour."

"Bye, pretty lady!" He waved flirtatiously at her. She received several death glares from the line formed in front of Austin's tent. She waved back at him, heading back to the buses.

Nothing could ruin her happiness at this moment.


	10. (Aus)Ten

"Austin, tell your girlfriend to stop hoarding all the zombies," Alan said as he repeatedly elbowed Danielle so she would mess up her aim when shooting.

"You're like that annoying little brother that constantly tattles and picks on his siblings!" Danielle said, finally using her feet to push him off the couch as much as she could. Unfortunately, that didn't do much good and he just laughed at her.

"Telling her to stop killing zombies is like telling you to not be ginger," Austin said, opening up a Monster can from the cooler.

"Or telling him to not love cats," Tino said.

"Shove it where the sun don't shine, Tino. Oh, look! My first kill within an hour! Thanks for not hoarding them all, Dani!"

Austin walked over and sat on Alan; he leaned back, making him part of the couch. Alan began shouting and punching Austin, who showed no emotion as he sipped on his Monster. But when Alan grabbed for that can, Austin slapped it away.

"The hell you think you are stealin' my Monster?!" Austin yelled.

"You're like five hundred pounds, dude! Get off!"

"Better hurry up, Alan." Tino said, sharing a smirk with Dani. "Those zombies back there sound pretty ravenous."

"_Austin!_"

Finally, Alan pushed Austin off and he almost went stumbling into Tino and Phil sitting on the floor. Once the rest made it into the safe house on the game, Dani put down the controller and stretched. The band had been playing for the past three hours while Austin just watched. At this point, the last bands would be playing and everyone would be heading home—which meant she was only two days away from being in New York.

"Want to take a walk?" Austin asked Danielle, putting out his hand.

"Oh, sure, babe," Alan said, grabbing Austin's hand and walking toward the door. His arm stopped with a jerk. He looked back and laughed at Austin's unamused face.

"You two have fun."

Danielle took Austin's hand and they walked out, heading toward her bus parked at the total opposite end of the lot. She peeked through the fence at the crowds of people heading toward the front gate to leave.

"So, on YouTube the other day, I watched an interview between you and two other girls that asked about us," Austin said with a smirk.

"You just saw that?" Danielle laughed. "That was from a while ago."

"The comments on it were hilarious. The top two both mentioned about how 'your eyes lit up whenever the girl said Austin's name!'"

"People are weird, man. They catch so many things I would never think twice about." Danielle grabbed the Monster can from Austin's hand and chugged down a few gulps.

"Oh, please. They find out their favorite band member is dating someone and it's suddenly total anarchy. To be honest, I'm glad we kept the relationship a secret. I think everyone can live through the whole summer without hearing about Daustin."

"Is that really the name they gave us?!"

"I'm dead serious."

"That's hilarious."

"I've seen people call it _D'awwwwwwstin."_

Danielle laughed. It was still mind-blowing to her to see how many people cared about their relationship. Then again, when he was married to Gielle, she always wanted to check on their relationship—not that she would ever actually admit that, nor would she bring her up. Ever.

"So are you going to walk all the way back over to your bus by yourself?" She asked once they started getting closer to her bus.

Austin shrugged. "Well, why wouldn't I?"

She rolled her eyes. Obviously, he didn't get the hint—either that or she just couldn't read into his sarcasm. "The guys want another cuddle fest tonight because I'm all stressed about seeing Trace in a few days and I'd really like to get out of it."

"Why? Your cuddle fests sound nice." He smiled at Danielle. She sneered.

"I love the guys but not when they're literally drooling all over my face."

He laughed. "So...you want me to actually stay in your bus...with you?"

"You've done it before."

"Yeah, but not _with _you."

She shrugged. "We can have our _own _cuddle fest."

"Well, aren't you adorable?" He kissed her forehead.

Once Danielle opened the door and got on the bus, the guys' faces lit up. But as Austin trailed in behind her, their expressions changed.

"It's because of the cuddle fest, isn't it?" Jeff said.

"What?" Danielle said in a mocking tone. "Of course not!"

"She's trying to get out of our cuddle fest!" Erick said. "Sorry, Austin, you're not invited. Go home."

"I'm pretty far from home right now, Erick. And don't blame me, blame her!" Austin pointed at Dani, whose jaw dropped in disbelief.

"She doesn't want to cuddle with her best friends. I see how it is." Erick crossed his arms over his chest.

Austin and Danielle then exchanged awkward glances.

"I'll just leave. See you in the morning." Austin said with a small, forced smile. Unwillingly, Danielle gave him a hug; he kissed the top of her head before leaving.

She could have sworn steam was coming out of her ears once she turned to the guys. "Well, _excuuuuuuse_ you guys."

"We told you we had a cuddle date," Andrew said, smiling from behind his laptop screen.

"Which is exactly why I wanted Austin to be here!" Danielle went in the mini fridge to take out a water bottle and sat at the small table across from Andrew.

Andrew peeked up at her again. "Ever since you've been dating him, you haven't left his side. The only time we see you is when we go out to eat and when we're on stage."

Danielle narrowed her eyes. "You're the ones who said he liked me. You basically egged me on to go for him!"

Erick scoffed. "Doesn't mean you have to spend _every _minute with him. No wonder everyone knows you're dating. You make it a lot more obvious than you wanted it to be."

"I don't even know if we should be classified as 'dating.' He never officially asked me out." She snapped. "I mean...yes, we're obviously _something_but—"

"Has he called you his girlfriend at all?" Erick interjected rudely.

Danielle stared at him, lost in her thoughts. "No...but I mean—"

"You sure he really likes you?" Jeff raised a skeptical eyebrow.

Danielle rolled her eyes. "Yes! He likes me! When did you guys get so annoying?"

She stood up and walked into the back room, locking the door behind her. She sat in the pile of blankets and pillows, staring out the far window. The only thing she could see was the Pierce the Veil tour bus. Taking out her phone from her pocket, she scrolled through her contacts, landing on Kellin's name. Pressing the call button, it rang a few times before he answered.

"What's up, Dani?"

"Are you in the Pierce the Veil bus?"

"Uh, no. Why?"

"I was just wondering because mine is right next to theirs and I don't really want to be in my tour bus right now."

"What about Austin?"

"No, I just came from there. Are you far from the PTV bus?"

"Yeah, kind of. I'm parked by the Of Mice & Men one."

She sighed. "All right. Thanks, Kellin."

"No problem. Text me if you need anything."

"I will."

After contemplating it for a few minutes longer, Danielle got up and headed out. The guys hushed their talking as she watched walked by. Once she opened the door, Jeff suddenly spoke up.

"Where you going?"

"None of your guys' concern." She slammed the door shut and headed toward the one next to her. She knocked loudly on the door and stood back. A pants-less Jaime opened it. His eyes turned wide.

"Who is it?" Vic asked loudly.

Jaime looked down quickly at his legs and ran off, his face turning pink. Danielle laughed awkwardly and let herself in, closing the door behind her. Vic's face scrunched together in confusion as he plucked his guitar strings at their small table with his feet propped up on the booth. Tony waved from the couch silently, several feet away.

"What are you doing here?" Vic asked.

"I just don't want to be in my bus right now. I got into an argument with the guys."

"About what?" Jaime asked, walking out of the back, pulling flannel pants on. "Sorry you had to see that by the way..."

Danielle laughed. "It's okay. It's just the whole Austin thing. I think they're jealous I'm spending more time with him." She grimaced, not sure if that sounded conceited or not. She felt nervous just trying to talk to Vic, but whenever they were together, he was nothing but nice to her lately. She learned how to read past his sarcasm.

Vic shrugged. "You just like each other. Of course you're going to spend a lot of time together during the tour."

"Do you know what you're going to do after the tour anyway?" Jaime asked, sitting at the table.

She shook her head. "I live all the way in New York...but I'm scared to go back there becauseof Trace. Austin offered to let me stay in his house out in California but that would mean being away from my family _and _the guys, which would just make them even more upset. But I feel like I may have to end up doing just that...but at the same time I feel awkward staying with him. I'm not even his _girlfriend._"

"Why do you say that?" Jaime asked.

"He never really asked me."

Jaime raised an eyebrow. "So you're basically just..."

She shrugged. "I don't know. Still a rumor, I guess."

Vic snorted. "Why won't you guys just announce it? Trace can't do anything about it."

Danielle pursed her lips. "Yeah, he kind of can."

"How?"

"It's not just that he could hurt me...he has things held against me that he could easily use. If he found out Austin and I were dating, he would easily use them. After that, Austin wouldn't want anything to do with me and I would probably just end up going home from the shame and embarrassment."

Vic and Jaime both exchanged uneasy glances. Vic sat up and took the guitar off from around his neck, placing it in the stand behind him.

"Can we go for a walk?"

Danielle hesitantly nodded. Vic motioned for Jaime, but he declined the invitation. So, Vic and Danielle headed out and walked toward the exit of the lot. This was the first time she and Vic were alone; that awkward feeling bubbled up inside of her. She didn't even really know what to say.

Once they were in the open venue, he led her a long way until they came to a small area under some trees. But you could see the whole sky from this location. You could see the whole, open venue, stretching for hundreds of feet.

"I found this little area a few summers back when I was looking for the dumpsters. It's a nice place to come and clear your head," Vic said, looking up at the starry sky. Danielle nodded, following his gaze.

"So," he said, nudging her, "what is this blackmail Trace has against you?"

Danielle laughed nervously. "It's kind of personal, Vic."

"I live to keep secrets. I've dealt with people trying to blackmail me before, too. It comes with the package of being famous."

"Why would someone want to blackmail you though?"

"I'm Vic Fuentes," he laughed. "Ex-girlfriends despise me, the guys that picked on me wish I was dead, et cetera. They all have their own little dirty secrets about me—embarrassing pictures in the yearbook; embarrassing pictures in general; embarrassing videos...you name it, someone's got it. Never really let it get to me though."

Danielle smiled, looking back up at the sky. Taking a deep breath, she finally let it all out for the first time.

"Trace was...interesting when we first met. Oddly enough, Andrew introduced me to him. I wasn't looking for a relationship then and I never expected much. He constantly asked me out and I refused. I obviously found him _completely _sexy but I just couldn't trust myself enough. One day, I finally just gave in and went out with him. He seemed so sweet and innocent. But he knew how to push me in a certain direction and—well, he got what he wanted out of me."

Both of Vic's eyebrows went up. He said, "Which was what every guy would want, right?"

Danielle snorted. "You could say that. He asked for pictures. Since it was in the heat of the moment, I did it without thinking. He told me he deleted them off his phone and when I checked a few days later, they weren't there. But then, I found out during one of our fights that he kept them under a locked folder on his computer. He used that against me for months."

Danielle's eyes began to water. "So, he told me if I ever wanted to make it on stage, I had to stay with him or else he would make sure everyone knew those pictures were of me before I even made it. And at the time, I agreed, thinking nothing of it. But then, it got worse. He threw himself on me when I wasn't ready, not in the slightest. And every time we would get in a fight and I would get close to breaking up with him, he reminded me of the pictures. Whenever I would push him away every time he tried to tear my clothes off, he would remind me of those pictures. Whenever I did_anything _he didn't approve of, he reminded me of those stupid pictures." She let out a loud sob. "He made me feel like I was nothing more than a stupid slut who made a stupid decision."

Vic's face was etched with every inch of concern. Once a tear spilled down her face, he pulled her into a hug, telling her everything would be all right. After that moment, Danielle knew she and Vic would know each other on a whole different level.

"I've never told anyone that before, not even the guys."

"I think you should tell them, Dani. That's serious business."

"If I do, they'll just think I'm a slut; Austin will, too."

"Austin will _not _think you are a slut for making a mistake a year and a half ago."

"Trace could easily say I sent them a few days ago."

Vic sighed. "Well, no matter what happens, I'm always here for you."

Danielle nodded, clutching on to Vic's T-shirt and burying her face in his shoulder. "Thanks for listening, Vic."

They hugged tighter, staying like that for a few extra minutes.

Loud voices echoed across the lot. Then, out came Austin with Ronnie Radke, Danny Worsnop...and someone else—a girl she didn't recognize.

"Who is that?" She asked. Vic examined closely. "You don't think..."

"No." Vic shook his head.

Danielle could feel her heart beating faster; her palms were sweating. Her fears were confirmed when the girl joined Austin at the front of their small group and latched herself around his arm. He threw the same arm over her shoulder as she leaned up to kiss his face.

Her heart plummeted to her stomach.


	11. Eleven

"Dani! Wait!" She heard Vic call behind her. She couldn't stop her sudden adrenaline rush; she was already halfway across the venue by the time Vic had started running after her.

Austin turned when he heard Vic's voice. His eyes widened with horror but he still didn't remove his arm from around the mystery girl. Danny and Ronnie suddenly stopped short, too, watching her heatedly stormed toward them.

She clenched and unclenched her fists, staring at Austin and trying with all her might to not slap him across his sheet white face.

"Dani, this is uh..."

"Danielle from A Different Salvation?" The girl asked excitedly.

"Yes." Danielle answered bitterly. She heard Vic finally catching up behind her.

"_Love _your music." she said with a sadistic smile.

Danielle raised an eyebrow. Vic grabbed her hand, attempting to pull her away from making a really big mistake. He pleaded with her, asking for her to follow him. But she refused to budge. She barely even acknowledged the fact that he was holding onto her.

Danielle yanked her hand back from Vic's grasp.

"Who are you?" Her eyes bored into the curvy, blue-eyed brunette's. Maybe she was reading too much into it, but she could have sworn this mystery girl was actually _enjoying _watching Danielle freak out. She wanted to smack that stupid grin off her face.

"I'm Alyssa; Austin and I go way back—Sophomore year to be exact. He's told me a lot about you!"

"Has he really?" Danielle let out a sarcastic laugh. "Obviously not enough." She met Austin's horrified eyes.

As Danielle was about to say more, Vic grabbed her hand again, pulling her away. She finally followed, too angry to even control her own limbs. He hurried her to the bus parking lot, where she took back her hand began breaking down crying again.

"How could he do that?" She cried loudly. "He said he told her off years ago! _Why is she here?!_"

Vic watched her cry. He didn't know what to do. Her head turned when she heard a bus door open. Her band was sticking their heads out to see what the screaming was about. She just cried harder.

_Great, _she thought. _Now they're going to ask questions._

Vic led her inside and sat her down on the couch. Afterward, he asked the guys to come outside, where he explained to them what happened. Afterward, she listened with anxiety as he explained the whole Trace situation to them.

Unable to bear listening anymore, she headed to the bathroom. She angrily flipped the switch and stared in the mirror, thinking horrible thoughts about herself. She ran her hands tightly through her long, layered brown hair. Some strands fell out with her fingers and drifted silently to the tile floor.

"What the hell were you thinking?" She asked quietly. "You were only ever going to be a friend to him. Why did you think it would be more?" She punched the wall next to her angrily. "He doesn't care."

Crying even more while she gripped the sink, her eyes wandered to the shower, where her shaving razor sat on the floor. She moved toward it slowly, listening for the sound of the boys coming back on the bus. She quickly picked up the razor and began tearing it apart. The blades fell to the floor with a small metallic pang. She carefully picked one up, turning it in her fingers.

It always made her nervous the first time she would do it in months. She closed her eyes when she poised it directly on her wrist and dragged it across slowly. She opened her eyes, watching blood slowly surface on her olive toned skin. Feeling a sense of familiarity, she did it again, faster this time. More blood came out. She did it again. And again. She became so wrapped up in it, she didn't even hear the guys come in.

"_Dani! No!"_

All too quickly, Vic was helping her up while Erick forced the blade from her fingers and threw it in the sink. He grabbed her by the arms and shook her gently.

"What the hell were you thinking?!"

She shook her head, beginning to cry again. "I—I feel so stupid."

Erick's face softened. He closed his arms around her. "You're not stupid, Dani. You're not."

Jeff came in, wrapping a handkerchief tightly around her wrist. He pried her away from Erick and hugged her next, softly running his hand up and down her back. "Please stop crying, Dani."

"I want to go home." she said into his shirt. The rest of the guys exchanged worried glances. "I don't know what I was thinking coming here. I'm not emotionally stable enough to handle something this huge."

"We're going to talk to Austin tomorrow." Jeff said.

"No. I don't want anything to do with him."

"You don't mean that. The guy saved your life."

She practically screamed, "And now look where I am!"

"Exactly, Dani!" Jeff pushed her away at arm's length, looking into her eyes. "You wouldn't be here without him. You had a relapse and that's okay. We all have one at some point when it comes to something we're addicted to. You aren't losing it just because of one small incident. You've done so much better on this tour than I've ever seen you. You dumped that asshole of a boyfriend and we've had the biggest crowds we've ever seen since we started. You can't give up now. Think about all the people you'll be upsetting."

Just then, she heard a voice from the other side of the bus that she really didn't want to hear. Vic, standing in the doorway, went out to deal with him. Dani leaned her head back into Jeff's chest while he ran his hand along her back again.

"I can explain everything to her," Austin's voice carried through the bus.

"I'm sure Alyssa's missing you right about now, Austin." Vic said harshly.

"I don't _want_ to be with Alyssa! I _want_ to talk to her about this!"

"That's not a good idea."

She heard a few loud shuffles of movement, followed by loud footsteps rushing toward the bathroom. Her head suddenly jerked up to see Austin standing there. His eyes shifted to the floor where all the razors still were. He looked back up at her wrist, wrapped in Jeff's handkerchief. A dramatic change appeared on his face. He proceeded toward her but she backed away, still clinging to Jeff's neck.

"Dani, I swear, I would never do anything to intentionally hurt you. You know that." Austin's voice sounded like it was breaking.

"Please go away." she said in a hoarse voice, "I don't want to talk about this right now."

"Dani..."

"You never even officially asked me to be your girlfriend!" She screamed, finally stepping away from Jeff. The guys watched her cautiously, ready to stop her if she started throwing punches. Austin's eyebrows furrowed together.

She continued shouting, "And now I know why! You lied to me, Austin. You told me you told her off years ago when she wanted you back."

"I didn't lie about that!"

"I see why you like her—she really is as pretty as I imagined. I should have known I couldn't compete. You're Austin fucking Carlile."

Austin shook his head, his eyes sad. He stepped forward again but Erick pushed him back. "Austin, I _really _wouldn't, man."

Danielle looked away from him. "I would leave, Austin. The pain I'm being put through with you is almost as bad as Trace."

"Please," Austin's voice turned to pleading, "Let's talk about it. Please."

She shook her head. "Leave."

After a few hushed words from Erick, Austin finally left silently. Vic walked by in his place. Danielle latched herself around him next. None of them said anything after that. Finally, Vic picked her up in a bridal's hold and carried her to the back room, laying her on the piles of blankets and pillows. The rest of the guys joined in, wrapping their arms around her. Vic said his goodbyes and left shortly after.

Once the bus started moving, she wrapped herself around Erick. She promised herself after what just happened, she would only focus on the music and her boys. No more Austin Carlile. No more of this back and forth bullshit. No more rumors about who likes who. She wasn't in high school anymore; she shouldn't have to worry about dealing with what boy likes her. She didn't want to worry about anything.

Just music—the only thing she ever put her faith in.


	12. Twelve

"Fuck yeah, we're in Canada!" Danielle screamed into her microphone once she bounded onto stage. The large crowd shouted with her. "Damn, I'm loving this crowd. You're an energetic bunch, aren't you?" They screamed once more, causing her to laugh.

"These past few days have been some of the most stressful days of my life. But I've come to the conclusion that you guys will always come first before anything else. I love you all more than words can describe. No matter what, I know I can always count on you more than anyone." The crowd shouted in reply. A genuine smile spread across her face. "We're going to start off with a cover song from The Veronicas called Everything I'm Not—sing along if you know the words!"

In some way, she was hoping Austin was nearby, listening, but she didn't dare look over at the side of the stage or anywhere in the venue, hoping to see his face. Once she got to the chorus, she screamed her heart out;

"_I was losing myself to somebody else – but now I see – I don't want to pretend so this is the end – of you and me – 'cuz the girl that you want – she was tearing us apart – 'cuz she's everything, everything – I'm not."_

She felt like a bottomless pit formed inside her stomach. Tears pricked the corner of her eyes but she continued on with the song, regaining her composure.

.&.

Austin sat in his tour bus, scrolling down the "Daustin" tag on Instagram. He was waiting for Danielle to go on so he could see her play and possibly catch her before or after her set. He wanted nothing more than to have her shut her mouth for two seconds so he could explain the whole Alyssa situation to her, but she just wouldn't listen. He understood why; he hurt her—unintentionally, of course—and she wouldn't just sit back and let him ruin her life like Trace did. That's what scared him at the moment, losing her over a stupid situation.

Alyssa came out from the back, still in her pajamas. "Morning, sunshine." she said cheerily. He didn't respond. She curled up on the couch next to him, watching as he scrolled through the pictures. "What are you doing?"

"Wishing I wasn't such an idiot."

She laughed. "You're not an idiot." She attempted to kiss his cheek but he stood up quickly, shoving his phone in his pocket.

"What's wrong with you?" Alyssa snapped.

"Nothing's wrong with _me._" He put on his jacket and stuffed his hands inside their pockets, walking toward the door. "I'm going to watch Danielle's band play."

"Why do you seem so interested in her?" Alyssa asked defiantly.

He stared menacingly at her. "We've been through this."

Alyssa raised an eyebrow. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you two _were_ dating."

Without responding, he left the bus and trudged across the parking lot, pulling his hood up as he entered the venue. He walked quickly toward the Ernie Ball Stage. Just as he got there, he saw Danielle run up on the stage energetically. He sat on one of the steps, hidden in the back, while she began her introduction like she did before every set. Once she started the first song, he watched as she became more immersed in the music than she's ever been, running around the stage and reaching her hands out to the kids that reached at the front of the barricade—and then he started listening to the lyrics.

He banged his head against the column behind him, cursing under his breath. He stood up at the same moment Danielle was turning in his direction. Their eyes met; fear flashed in her eyes, but she didn't stop singing. Jeff followed her gaze. Once he saw Austin, his eyes turned cold. Danielle quickly turned back to the crowd.

"What are you doing?" Jeff mouthed angrily.

"I want to talk to her." Austin replied.

Jeff shook his head with an advisory look in his eyes. "She doesn't want to talk."

Austin took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

Once the song ended, Jeff turned back to the crowd, smiling. Danielle introduced the next song—a song she wrote about her addiction. His mind flashed back to last night when he saw the handkerchief around her wrist. His eyes flashed toward her wrist now. Still decoratively tied there was the handkerchief.

While the music started, Austin got up and walked away, realizing Jeff wasn't going to pay any more attention to him. He listened to the pain in her voice as she sang. He wished he didn't have to leave. But he knew she wouldn't even bother looking at him.

He messed up. Big time.

.&.

"No," Danielle said, signing her name furiously onto a poster of her and her band before sliding it to Jeff next.

"He wants to talk to you, Dani," Jeff said in a whisper, signing his name and sliding it to Erick. "And people keep asking about you two."

"I don't give two shits." Dani said angrily. "I'm not messing around with relationships right now, Jeff. It's over."

Jeff sighed frustratedly, leaning back in his seat as the next fan walked forward. After Dani gave the girl a hug and posed for a picture, someone came running over.

"Danielle, can I talk to you?" Ronnie Radke asked, stepping into their booth.

"If this is about your friend, I'll gladly pass on that conversation." She smiled sarcastically at him.

Ronnie leaned down so he was next to her face. She suddenly felt highly uncomfortable.

"I don't mean to be a dick but—okay, scratch that, yes I do—you're being a stuck up, selfish bitch and jumping to conclusions before you know the whole story. You get out of an unhealthy year and a half long relationship and then dump one of the nicest guys you know barely after two weeks because of something you _thought _was going on."

Danielle considered this fact. Ronnie didn't budge. None of the guys were backing her up either. She knew they all agreed with him. Why _would_Austin cheat on her? It made no sense. But at the same time, he never even officially called her his girlfriend.

"The fact is he never even officially asked me to be his girlfriend. Explain that to me."

"Oh, sorry, didn't know you needed official recognition. Honestly, Dani, I thought you were more down to earth than this. Do you think you're of some high importance because he wants you? It doesn't work like that."

"Why are you such an ass?" She asked loudly.

"Because you won't talk to your sulking boyfriend. His fans are getting mildly suspicious at this point. Trust me, Danielle, if they find out you broke his already poor heart, they would slit your throat." Ronnie raised his eyebrows at her. Danielle swallowed hard. "Go talk to your boyfriend before I have to drag you to him myself."

"He's not my—"

"Shut the fuck up and go talk to him."

Ronnie stepped out of the booth after that and walked away, leaving Danielle even more pissed off. She looked down the table at the rest of her band; they all looked away from her gaze awkwardly at the same time. She was right—they all agreed with Ronnie.


	13. Thirteen

"You really need to go home," Austin said agitatedly, leaning against one of the speakers behind the stage. Alyssa had decided to hang around ever since she stalked him back in Indiana. He was ready to blow a bullet through his brain—and his band members were right in line behind him on that.

"Austin, what happened to us being best friends? You barely even treat me like an acquaintance." She asked in her fake, attempting-to-be-cute voice that honestly made Austin want to rip her vocal chords out.

"'Best friends' don't constantly try to get in my pants." Austin shot her an icy stare.

"Well, last night you seemed pretty comfortable throwing your arm around me until Dani showed up." Alyssa crossed her arms over her chest.

"It was a _harmless _gesture! If you haven't noticed, I have a lot of girl friends and Dani is quite aware of all of them! I thought that maybe you would be as different as you said you were but you are _still _attempting to fuck me even after I've told you several times; I don't want to anymore." He grabbed his mic and met up with the rest of his band, ready to sing his first song the moment he walked out.

"You know what, Austin? I tried to be the greatest best friend you ever had and you could have made it big time with me but instead you ended up with a whore of a wife who cheated on you anyway and then you barely last two weeks with a dead-beat girl who can't even sing, let alone scream."

While the rest of the band awkwardly did something else, Austin slowly turned his head toward Alyssa. She still had a mean, bitchy expression on her sun-kissed face.

"Don't you _ever _insult that hard-working, beautiful girl. She's done more in life than you ever have, Alyssa."

Austin heard Alan stifle a laugh in front of him. Alyssa's jaw dropped.

"If you think bringing people down is your form of self-confidence, don't ever call yourself a friend of mine. Find your way back home to Florida and don't ever try to talk to me again."

"You're making a huge mistake, Carlile." Alyssa turned to walk away, her long, wavy brunette hair whipping around with her.

"At least he's not banging a huge slut," Aaron said as he walked toward the rest of the band, slinging his guitar over his shoulder. Alyssa looked back one last time before storming off. The rest of the guys laughed; all except Austin.

"You okay?" Aaron asked.

"Fine." Austin cracked his neck. "Where've you been?"

Aaron shrugged. "Just taking care of some things."

"Did you get stuck in a porta-potty again?" Austin couldn't help but crack a smile when Aaron glared at him. Only a few seconds afterward did the band start going up on stage and the crowd begin cheering. Austin looked back, waiting and hoping that by some miracle, she would show up. Taking a deep breath, he walked on stage as _The Storm _started.

.&.

Danielle sat in her bus with her fingers on her temples while Kellin, Justin Hills, Erick, Vic and Mike Fuentes, and Ronnie fought back and forth with her. All she wanted to do was hit all of them in the head with a fire hydrant. Or maybe something heavier.

Like the tour bus.

"If you don't remember, I was _there! _She doesn't want to talk to him because he had his arms over some slutty bitch with horse hair!" Vic shouted.

"Honestly, Dani, I think you should just say at least a few words to him," Justin said with a shrug. "You both like each other, why not try to work it out?"

"If she doesn't want to talk to him, she doesn't have to!" Kellin said. He and Vic seemed to be the only ones supporting her. "She's obviously distressed and can't think straight. When she's ready to talk, she will."

"Kellin, have you suddenly become a chick?" Ronnie asked. "All day, Austin has been scrolling down his Twitter, openly ranting about anyone that says anything bad about this girl and she's sitting here, acting like she's a fucking princess."

"I always heard you were a nice guy but you know, you actually turned out to be a dick," Danielle said, meeting Ronnie's eyes.

"I'm only a dick when I have to be, sweetheart." He smirked. "I liked you at first, but now you're honestly just turning into a egotistical bitch."

"Then why don't _you _tell me what happened? You were obviously there when it happened."

"It's not my place to tell you. Do you think you'd honestly believe _me _anyway?"

Danielle rolled her eyes. She was getting sick and tired of hearing about this. She just wanted to go back to sleep so she could wake up and get New York's show over with. But no, everything had to be made difficult for her.

"It's time to just grow a pair and face it. This whole 'drama' between you two is fucking bullshit," Mike said. Danielle stared at him, unsure of what to even make out of that. "Just telling you the truth."

Danielle said as calmly as possible, "I just want to focus on the music right now. I can't focus on Austin and our so-called relationship because I honestly don't think I can handle it at this point."

"Have you noticed he's crazy about you?" Ronnie said.

Before Danielle could reply, someone unexpected came through the doors—Aaron Pauley. He smiled at the group and sat on the couch next to Danielle.

"Dani, I have a very big favor to ask of you."

.&.

Austin was already excited as the crowd started cheering louder when he walked on stage. He opened his arms, a smirk slipping onto his face. He turned away from the crowd, closing his eyes.

"_I never said – I'd be coming back for you – I never said – I'd be coming back for you, back for you..."_

Once the harder part of the song started, he turned back around, screaming into his mic. Then, he put his mic out to the crowd, listening as they sang along. When the chorus started, he stood back, feeling his heart breaking.

"_And I fear – that I've married a ghost – you appeared – to have this heart of gold – and I fear – that you've sold my soul – the devil's crawling on my back to take you back to..."_

He started running around the stage, climbing on the columns and pointing to kids he saw that were either taking pictures or videos of him. Near the end of the song, he could feel that emotional tug he always did when he sang that one line. He looked over the crowd toward the busses—the bus he knew she was probably sitting in.

"_And now I sing_ _for everything that I've lost..." _He took in a deep breath, hoping she could hear him._"and now I _scream _for everything that I've loved – everything!"_

After the song ended, the crowd cheered and Austin turned away to get a drink of water. He smiled as he looked back out at the crowd—he loved seeing their happy faces. It always made him forget about everything else for a little while.

"I fucking love you guys," he said. The crowd cheered and he smiled once more. "We're gonna play a couple more songs but I better hear you_screaming_, got that?"

The next song started, and again he could feel his heart being tugged in all different directions. He bent down at the front of the stage, staring into every face that was at the barricade while the intro played. He smiled at several of them, grabbing their outstretched hands. Taking in a breath and stepping away from the edge, he started:

"_I hope you know, I swear I've never done this before, and I care, I'm so sorry – scarred you for life, please come back to me, down on my knees – repeating apologies."_

Expecting Aaron's voice, he was thoroughly surprised when a small, brunette girl came bounding on stage with a separate mic in her hands. The crowd reacted in several different ways from her appearance but Austin just stared at Danielle as she sang the next line.

"_Why do I deny the heart that's grown colder? - too quick to criticize the lullaby – why do I deny the heart that's grown colder? - too quick to criticize..."_

Regaining his composure, Austin carried on with the song, pretending her being on stage was perfectly normal.

"_Back on mistakes I've made, please come home to me – I'll show you truth. I'm all for you – I'll hold your hand, ease your mind, yeah, we'll be okay – repeating apologies."_

Austin dropped the mic down at his side, watching Danielle hold a straight face as she edged toward him, eerily singing out the next line. He almost felt threatened when she walked closer but he continued his part, looking more at her than the rest of the crowd.

"_More – more than words, they can't compete with, it's always been you and me..."_

She shook her head and turned toward the crowd, belting out the chorus as she stood on one of the speakers. He watched her with a small smile on his face; he missed watching her sing. As both their parts in the chorus ended, they turned toward each other. She started singing again with as much enthusiasm as he watched her have on stage earlier that day.

"_I hope you know, I hope you know, I've never done this before, done this before and I – I hope you know, I hope you know, baby, you're not alone, you're not alone..." _Austin was about to scream the next part but she beat him to it. He took a few steps back and watched her with sad eyes.

"_You've – ruined – me! - I hope you know, I swear I've never done this before, and I care, I bet you're sorry – you've lied to my face – all these words that I say are the words I wanted to hear from you to me!"_

Danielle dropped the microphone to the floor as the song ended, which emitted a very unpleasant, high pitched noise. She sauntered off stage without another word, leaving the whole crowd speechless. Austin turned toward his band once she disappeared behind the stage and could tell by their faces that they already knew.

Austin turned slowly back to the crowd, a smirk on his face. "That, ladies and gentlemen, is a girl you never want to fuck with."

* * *

**A/N: idk this is one of my favorite chapters that I've written so far so I hope you guys like it c:**


	14. Fourteen

Danielle burst into her tour bus, shutting the door behind her and taking in slow, deep breaths with her eyes closed. She turned toward the rest of her band; they watched her intently as she slowly walked in to the room.

"So...how was it?" Erick asked.

She let out a small laugh. "It felt amazing."

"We're both talking about the same thing, right?"

Danielle glared at Erick, who smirked and continued tune his guitar. She joined him and Jeff on the couch, satisfied with herself.

Aaron had come in several minutes earlier, asking for her to sing for _Repeating Apologies _because he knew it would be a fitting song for them to collaborate together on. When he told her Austin didn't know about it, it just gave her a sneaky idea in her head and she agreed.

On her way to the stage, she saw Alyssa bursting out of the Of Mice & Men tour bus across the lot. She just glared at Danielle as she hurried off, giving Danielle an even more satisfied smile. When she actually got to the stage, it was right in the middle of _The Storm_. She listened to the pain in his voice as he shouted those two lines near the end of the song. In a way, it made her feel sad how fitting those lines were at the moment.

That moment was soon interrupted when a crew member gave her a mic and pushed her toward the stage.

_Repeating Apologies_ began its intro. Aaron nodded toward her, signaling her to get ready. She listened closely to Austin's part before she rushed out on stage and started Aaron's part. The look on Austin's face was priceless; the reactions from the fans were even better.

During the whole song, Austin stared at her with sorrowful eyes. She knew that at any moment, he could just drop it all and apologize right then and there. But they were both too captivated in the song to disrupt it. She got off the stage as fast as possible once it was over because she didn't want to ruin the flow of his set but as she was running across the venue, he caught her eye and a smirk slid onto his face.

"That, ladies and gentlemen, is a girl you never want to fuck with."

She smiled back at him before running off toward the busses.

"So then...are you guys like...?" Jeff asked.

Danielle's smile faded. She shook her head. "Until I know I can juggle a relationship and tour life at one time, I can't be with him."

"You could if you tried. You've done it with Trace and he wasn't even physically _with _you," Erick put in.

"Austin won't be on every tour with us, Erick."

"I'm just saying..."

Danielle rolled her eyes. "Ronnie's rubbed off on you, I see." She got up and headed for the door. "I'm going to go see Kellin and his band."

"Oh, _sorry _we're not entertaining enough for you!" Erick said loudly.

"I've barely hung out with Kellin since Warped started! I'm stuck with you goof-balls all night when the bus is moving!"

"It was a joke, Danielle, calm down."

She let out a small, awkward laugh before heading out the door. She walked toward the venue to the Sleeping With Sirens booth. A long line of people were jutting out from the front. She climbed inside where Kellin immediately greeted her with a big smile and hug.

"_Daniiiii!_" Justin ran forward and picked her up, like the whole conversation back at the bus never even happened. "Hey, look at you, hot stuff." He gestured to her cut-off, baggy t-shirt that slid off one shoulder to expose a nude-color bra strap. "No wonder you're Austin's eye candy."

She flung her hand into his stomach. He flashed his ever-so-stunning smile, not even phased. She gave him the evil eye but a smile still crept onto her face.

"How's the _thing_ going?" Kellin asked, signing something quick for a fan and giving her a hug.

"Oh, you know, it's just floppy. Did you hear about how I sang during _Repeating Apologies?"_ She smirked. Kellin's and Justin's eyes widened.

"How was that?" Kellin asked.

"I'd say we both got our feelings out in the open in quite a different way."

"Badass. You got to sing an Of Mice & Men song on stage with them." Justin was signing something, quickly having a small conversation with the fan before turning back to Danielle.

"When do you plan to actually talk to him?" Kellin hugged another fan and took a quick picture with her before Danielle continued.

"Don't know. Whenever I'm ready, I guess. I saw Alyssa leave as I was headed toward the stage actually."

Kellin let out one loud "HA!" before shaking his head. "Serves the bitch right for claiming something that isn't hers."

"Ain't nobody messin' with her man," Justin said in a high-pitched ghetto voice while pursing his lips.

"He's not technically _mine_ either, guys."

Kellin shrugged. "How do you think Austin would feel if he saw _you _with someone else?"

Danielle thought about this for a moment. The whole situation was confusing to her and she wanted to just shove it in the back of her mind for the rest of the tour but she knew she couldn't. She would have to face it eventually. She couldn't travel the rest of the country pretending everything would be fine because she knew it wasn't.

"Why don't you and Justin head back to the buses?" Kellin suggested after she didn't answer. "Find Gabe and Jesse while you're at it because they ran off and hid before coming to the signing, claiming they didn't feel good. They'll be puking blood tonight if they don't hurry up and get over here."

Justin put out his arm for Danielle. "Shall we, m'lady?"

Danielle latched her arm around Justin's, smiling. "All right. See you later, Kellin."

.&.

_Dani's got a thing for Kellin again. Ooh la laaaa._

_SHE'S OBVIOUSLY DOING JUSTIN, GUYS._

_Dani and Kellin. I can ship it. Then again, there's Vic and Kellin, too..._

_Either she's a home wrecker or she's a band slut. How classy._

Danielle got flooded with tagged Instagram pictures of her, Justin, and Kellin in the booth together. She could never escape. She even checked her tweets to see that everyone was talking about the collaboration she and Austin did and how she was a "selfish, stuck up bitch who don't deserve no apologies."

Angrily enough, she tweeted something for the world to see:

_I am NOT dating a married man. I am NOT sleeping with one of my close friends. & I am DEFINITELY NOT Austin's girlfriend. I'M SINGLE. Think before you act or else make yourself out to look like an idiot._

She didn't even care if she insulted anyone at this point. It was getting annoying to see people talk about her and some band guy she talked to every day. Only a few seconds later did tweets come pouring in and she suddenly wished she hadn't said anything.

_YOU'RE SINGLE?! :O_

_What happened to Trace?_

_Trace was perf tho._

_Aren't you dating that guy from your hometown?_

She finally silenced her phone and threw it across the bus angrily, massaging her temples once she heard it bounce off the wall and onto the floor.

"It's times like these where I just..." she said out loud to herself. Her eyes wandered to the counter several feet away from her, lined with several alcoholic drinks. She ran her tongue across her teeth, thinking over the last time she ever had a drink. That was the night she finally decided to go sober. But at this point, she was ready to just let it all go.

Curiously, she got up and made her way toward the counter. She grabbed the clear, Absolut Vodka bottle on the end. She was alone. The guys were out with the Falling In Reverse guys right now. Danielle insisted that she didn't want to go because she would rather not have Ronnie criticize her the whole time. The guys attempted to convince her, saying he would be good, but she won that argument fair and square—she wouldn't change her mind, so they left her on her own, trusting her not to do anything reckless.

How stupid they were.

She poured herself a Monster in a red solo cup followed by a few drops of vodka. She looked down at the cup hesitantly, knowing she shouldn't do this. That little voice in the back of her mind told her it wouldn't solve anything. She'd been sober for almost two years—she couldn't just ruin it. But on impulse, she downed the whole thing, wincing from the burning at the back of her throat. After that, she added more and more each time until the room began spinning.

She ended up sprawled on the couch by the end of the night, staring up at the muted TV, unsure of what was even on. She barely reacted when the guys walked in, all laughing about something one of the others said. A huge smile stretched across her face when they walked in the front room. She stood up, wobbly, and walked toward them with her arms outstretched.

"Dani, are you drunk?" Erick asked, steadying her.

She laughed, shaking her head. "Of course I'm not _drunk_, Erick! Remember how I vowed never to drink again because of that one incident years ago?"

"Holy shit," Jeff said, holding back a laugh. "She's drunk."

Danielle started getting upset; she didn't even know why. "You guys never believe me! You know, you all basically treat me like a child. I can handle myself on my own, thank you very much! I mean...I don't _need _Austin. He's perfectly _fine _without me! I'm perfectly fine without him, too!"

"I think you need to go to bed," Andrew said, grabbing Danielle's arm. She pulled it back, almost tumbling backward.

"I'm not tired yet! Why can't we just party? Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow Trace could exploit me for the whore I am." She grinned widely.

Andrew rolled his eyes. "Dani, you're not a whore."

Danielle looked taken aback. "How do _you _know? How do none of you know if I've actually slept with all of you and never told you?"

The guys looked at each other, puzzled. Where was all this coming from? They knew she was a little off-her-medication type of crazy when she drank but this was just intensified by ten. Maybe it was the fact that she had been sober so long. Maybe it was just because she kept things inside her head for far too long.

"How do you know I haven't screwed Austin? I mean...maybe I have...maybe I haven't." She shrugged, almost knocking herself off balance again.

"I'm pretty sure you're just talking a bunch of jumbled nonsense now." Andrew said. "Come on, let's get you to bed."

Danielle pushed past them, heading for the door. "I don't want to go to bed! I want some fresh air!" She pushed the door open, breathing in the air. "Screaming gets out your frustrations, guys. I learned that a while ago," she stated as she walked farther away.

"Hey!" She screamed at the top of her lungs in the middle of the whole parking lot, "My ex-boyfriend thinks I'm a slut! Not only that, so does the rest of the world!"

She began laughing maniacally. The guys suddenly rushed out; Jeff threw his hands over her mouth. Erick grabbed her wrists, softly shaking her.

"Danielle! Stop it!" He said in a stern, hushed tone. But once he saw her fearful expression, he pried Jeff's hands away from her mouth.

"You, stay away from me!" Danielle edged away from the rest of them, holding onto the bus behind her for support.

"Dani, I'm sorry. But you really—"

"Don't hurt me, Trace, please don't hurt me!"

She took off in the opposite direction, stumbling across the lot. She suddenly ran into something hard and tripped backward, almost falling on her backside. But someone caught her by her wrists. Her vision became semi-focused; she was looking into Austin's face.

"Dani? Are you...are you drunk?"

Her eyes widened. She slipped her hands away from him.

"I could hear you screaming from across the lot..." He looked over Danielle's shoulders with an intensified look in his eyes. "Did I hear you say Trace's name?"

"Y—yeah. Sorry, Austin..." She held on to the nearest bus for support as she turned around, but almost fell again. Austin pulled her back to her feet; she continued to shoo him away, grimacing.

"I don't know what you were doing with that Alyssa chick," she slurred, suddenly unaware of her own words, "but if it was just some sort of way to get me jealous, you did a pretty shitty job at it."

Austin stared at her. He knew well enough not to say anything while she was like this. He didn't know if she would remember it in the morning or not.

"I mean, hey, if you just wanted me to say you had me, all you had to do was ask or maybe, you know, hold something against me so I'd get in your bed without thinking twice about it."

Austin's face suddenly scrunched together in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

She sighed in frustration. "Like the pictures Trace kept of me, you know?"

Austin's face dramatically changed within an instant from confused to angrier than an instigated bull. "You mean—like _pictures_ of you?"

She nodded. "He's going to exploit me and give everyone the satisfaction in knowing I'm just a big, filthy slut."

"Don't say that about yourself."

"You're so modest, Austin; it's what I really like about you. Hey! Maybe if you bang me like I've always imagined, Trace will realize I've already moved on!" She suddenly grabbed onto Austin, who pushed her away almost immediately.

"No, Dani," he said. "I'm not going to have sex with you."

"Is it because I'm ugly?"

"No! Why would you say that?"

Tears suddenly formed in Danielle's eyes. "Then why were you with Alyssa when we both knew we had feelings for each other?"

He sighed. "It's time for you to go to bed, Danielle."

He scooped her up and threw her over his shoulder; she began shouting in protest but he didn't stop until he got to her tour bus.

He handed her over to Andrew, who carried her back to her bunk. He laid her down and brushed her hair back.

"Sleep well, Danielle..."

Soon, even though she was still mumbling protests about Austin, she dozed off.


	15. Fifteen

Danielle opened her eyes and breathed in the hot, condensed air of her bunk. She opened the curtain, suddenly blinded by the sunlight. Her eyes snapped shut again and her head throbbed immensely. Groaning, she finally jumped down from her bed and made her way to the front of the bus. She stopped where she was, staring around the room absentmindedly.

Her eyes widened with horror when they landed on the liquor counter. Her mind flashed back to her sitting on the couch, taking endless shots of vodka. She looked at the half-filled bottle on the edge of the counter. She tried to think back the rest of the night, but all she remembered was fighting with the guys about something stupid before heading outside.

_Oh, no._

She talked to Austin. She thought about his spinning, puzzled face. She rubbed her eyes, groaning once more. She didn't even want to _know _what horrible things she said to him.

Grabbing her sunglasses and pulling her hood up, she stepped outside and breathed in the New York air. She leaned her forehead against the chain link fence, still cold from the morning air. She heard a cough not far off and turned in its direction. Austin was outside the front of his bus, sitting against it with a Monster beside him and a large breakfast sandwich in his hand.

She must have been staring for too long because he suddenly looked in her direction. She turned away as quickly as possible. Thankfully, she heard another bus door opening at that same moment. She spun around to see Vic and Kellin coming out of the Pierce the Veil bus.

"So the rumors _are _true. You're both secretly gay for each other." Danielle said with a smile.

"Too early for jokes, Danielle." Vic said, putting his hood up and pulling the drawstrings. "Wanna grab some breakfast?"

"Um..." she turned back toward Austin. She could tell just by the way he was staring off into space that he was listening to their conversation. She turned back to face them and smiled. "Sure."

She led them into the town to one of the best bagel shops she had ever been to. She always went there once a month with her family because they made the best breakfast sandwiches of all time. She forced Kellin and Vic to get what she decided for them, and then they were headed back to the busses.

"This is fucking amazing," Kellin said with his mouth full.

"Told you so," Danielle replied, taking a swig of her Monster.

They headed into the Pierce the Veil bus and sat at their small booth. As she took off her sunglasses and rubbed her eyes, the guys made an odd, grotesque noise.

"You look like..." Kellin began.

"Shit," Vic finished, his mouth full of food. "Wait...was that _you _outside last night?"

Danielle snorted. "Probably."

Vic suddenly got up and headed to one of the cabinets over the countertops. He opened a medicinal container and placed two, small pills in front of her.

"Best hangover cure I've found. Drink that with your Monster and you'll feel like a million dollars in just a few hours." Vic took another huge bite of his sandwich as he put the container back.

"I thought you didn't drink," Kellin stated.

"I didn't. But last night, my Instagram was blown up with girls calling me a slut for being in your booth with you and Justin. Once I tweeted that I was single, I had a bunch of girls on my dick about Trace." Danielle shook her head, looking down at her hands. "It's better than cutting myself though, right?"

Kellin sighed. "You told me what happened last time you got drunk and that's why you don't do it anymore. It's not a therapeutic remedy, Danielle."

"What happened last time?" Vic asked.

Dani looked him in the eyes and said, "I almost slept with my best friend."

Vic stopped chewing and looked away awkwardly. After clearing his throat and swallowing his bite, he asked, "So what was this I heard about Trace last night that you were screaming at the top of your lungs?"

Danielle squeezed her eyes shut, trying to get rid of her headache. "I don't know, Vic. All I remember is getting into a stupid argument with the guys and then running outside and into Austin."

Kellin choked on his sandwich. "You ran into him while you were drunk?"

"I don't even remember what I said."

Suddenly, Tony came out from the back with an annoyed, sleepy look on his face. He stared at each of them, then at their sandwiches.

"You guys are so loud," he said hoarsely.

"Want the rest of my sandwich?" Vic took one last bite and handed the sandwich over his shoulder. Tony took it without hesitation and scurried back into the bunk room without another word.

"I know him too well." Vic said with an eye roll. Danielle laughed lightly. It brought a smile to the guys' faces to hear her laugh.

"Should we be expecting Trace today?" Vic asked with sudden seriousness.

The ghost of Danielle's laugh quickly faded. She looked down at the table, awkwardly clearing crumbs off of it.

"What am I supposed to do _if_ he does show up?"

"Stay the hell away from him?" Vic said sarcastically.

"I don't have time for your sarcasm. It's not that fucking easy to just 'stay away from him.'" Danielle snapped.

Vic looked away with pursed lips, feeling bad that he just offended her. Danielle sighed, staring at the liquor on their own counter and suddenly feeling like puking her breakfast. She bit her nails nervously, imagining all the devastating scenarios of seeing Trace in the back of her mind.

"Stay with someone at all times." Kellin suggested.

"I never want to see you alone at all." Vic followed. She stared into both of their eyes. They were both dead serious.

"If you see him, will you beat him up for me?" A smile smile crept on her face. The guys nodded with small smiles of their own.

After feeling a little more chipper, she said goodbye to the guys and headed out toward her own bus. She was almost disappointed when she didn't see Austin sitting in front of his.

Once she stepped foot back in her bus, the guys looked relieved to see her. She smiled at them faintly. Erick was the first to come forward and hug her.

"I forgot how scared you get when you're drunk," he said quietly. "I'm so sorry."

"Right...what did I do exactly?"

"Well, first you ran outside, screaming about how Trace and the rest of the world thinks you're a slut...and then Jeff grabbed you while I basically shouted at you to stop."

Danielle's eyes widened. "Did I talk to Austin?"

Erick shrugged. "He knocked on our door a few minutes later, carrying you over his shoulder. He didn't look very happy; he basically tossed you into Andrew's arms. You kept muttering at Austin to let you go and how you wanted him to like you again."

Danielle's face drained of all its color. She sat at the table, unable to stand anymore. She couldn't even think about half the things she must have said to him. She clamped a hand over her mouth.

"What if I called him a cheater? And a liar? And—oh my god, what if I..." She could only think about how confidently seductive she acted when she was drunk. "Oh my god—no wonder he was upset." She ran her hands across her face.

"There's nothing you can do right now. Let's just get ready for today," Erick said as sincerely as possible.

Danielle nodded. "Right. Music. Fans." She put her sunglasses on before grabbing her Beats by Dre headphones and walking to the back of the bus. "Only thing I'll ever trust."

.&.

Danielle was running her fingers through her hair all morning. She stayed in the bus to warm up, using her headphones to listen to their EP. She sipped on her water bottle and kept checking her make-up in the mirror to make sure she still didn't look like she drank a quarter bottle of vodka last night.

Vic was right about the medication he gave her; she looked perfectly fine but she kept insisting on checking herself again. Once it came closer to the time of her set, she headed out of the bus, tensely walking through the crowds of people toward the Ernie Ball Stage. She didn't know whether it was safer to walk in the crowds or behind the stages.

She constantly looked behind her shoulder, checking for anyone suspiciously following her—or a lanky guy with long, dark hair covered in tattoos. Once she got to the stage, she breathed a little more easily.

"About time you showed up," Erick said, throwing her the mic. She threw the headphones off from around her neck. She waited for the rest of them to get on stage while taking deep, gulping breaths. She turned around, half expecting to see Austin there, wishing her good luck. But then she remembered he wouldn't want to talk to her anyway. She ran out on stage, taking in all the shouts from the crowd with a smile on her face.

"Holy _shiiit_, it feels awful to be back here!" She said loudly into the mic with a laugh. "Most of you may or may not know that New York is my hometown. I've been anticipating this for the whole tour and damn—this has to be the biggest crowd."

When the crowd quieted down, her eyes searched every face quickly but she didn't see anyone familiar. Taking another slow breath, she started their first song.

.&.

"I'm so happy to see you!"

"I'm so happy to see you, too!"

One of Danielle's close friends from high school had tackled her from behind after her show, almost giving her a heart attack. After she saw that it was only Lauren, they both squealed and gave each other a long needed hug.

"What's been up with you lately? I saw from your Twitter that you and Trace broke up." Lauren grimaced.

"Yeah, not too long ago. I can't handle having a boyfriend and touring at the same time." Danielle shrugged.

"What about Austin?" Lauren smirked, poking her sides. "Did you guys hit it off?"

Danielle laughed. "We're...friends, I guess."

"What do you mean?"

"It's a long, complicated story. I don't really want to get into it."

Lauren nodded in understanding. "Well, I'm gonna go catch up with my friends. It was nice seeing you though! Hit me up once in a while, would ya!"

The girls said goodbye and Danielle was left standing alone in the middle of the venue. She walked around, trying to find _someone _she could cling to. The more alone she was, the more scared she became. Her anxiety decreased once she saw Vic by the busses. She ran toward him, beginning to shout his name.

But almost like a human fishing line hooked onto the back of her shorts, she stopped. Her eyes widened when he turned around and she saw his face. She backed stealthily away into the crowds of people, hoping to disappear among them.

But it was too late. Trace was already walking toward her.


	16. Sixteen

Danielle ran faster, peering over her shoulder constantly. She looked around frantically for anyone that could help her. She wanted to crawl right back into Austin's arms if she could just so he would protect her. But it was too late for that; she did _something_ to turn him off last night and there was no going back.

Trace continued his way toward her with nothing but a small smirk on his face that told her she was dead if he got too close. She was almost relieved when she barely knocked Ronnie over.

"Jesus!" He cried, lifting his Rockstar drink high above him and dodging her speeding body. "You should've become an Olympic track runner instead." He joked.

"Ronnie! He's here," Danielle cried, desperately grabbing Ronnie's arm. "He's following me."

Ronnie's face suddenly dropped. He stared off in the direction Danielle had just come from.

"Go back to your bus." He said, abruptly walking away "and run!"

"You're going to just leave me?!" She asked fearfully.

"If you want to be safe, do what I say!"

"Well, where are you going?"

"To find security and kick his ass out." Ronnie said with matter-of-fact, "I'll be no less than ten minutes."

Trace was closer now. She hurried behind one of the tents, staying against the fence. She did what Ronnie told her, running once she was in the bus lot. Catching her breath, she attempted to open the door to her own bus. It wouldn't budge. She remembered locking it before heading to her set...

And she left the key with Erick.

"Shit," she muttered under her breath, peeking through the fence to see if Trace could be seen anywhere.

When she couldn't find a trace (lolnopunintended) of him, she took out her phone, shakily scrolling through her contacts. The first name she landed on was Jeff's. She called him, but the phone just kept ringing. Angrily, she tried Erick next; his phone was off. When she tried Andrew, his went to voicemail. She didn't know what to do. Should she call Kellin? Or maybe Vic? If she got desperate enough, she was thinking of even calling Austin. Was he even playing a set right now? She dialed the next name that came to mind—Justin Hills.

Her heart rate picked up when he answered the phone. She almost started screaming before he could even get a word out but her throat felt like it was closed off; she could barely speak out of pure anxiety.

"Hello?" He answered in confusion.

"Where are you?" She asked, her voice shaking.

"Monster Energy stage. Are you okay?" He asked with genuine concern.

"Who is it?" She heard Kellin's voice shout in the background. "Dani? What happened?"

"He's here." Her voice quivered. "I can see your stage from here but it's too far away. Trace is going to find me if I move. What do I do?" She placed a hand on her forehead, beginning to tear up.

"We'll stay on the phone with you until we have to go on," Justin said. "Where are you anyway?"

"I'm scared." Her voice seemed to disappear.

"Tell us where you are, Dani." Justin repeated.

Before she could answer, a voice whispered in her other ear, making her jump. Her phone dropped to the pavement. She looked slowly up at a deviously smiling Trace.

His teeth were still perfectly straight and white. His tanned skin seemed so dark compared to them. Reaching past his shoulders was his black hair; a snapback turned backward was settled on top of his head. It was still the same old Trace.

She swallowed hard, watching him closely as he picked up her phone and ended the call, shoving it in his back pocket. She looked over at the Monster Energy Stage through the fence; Sleeping with Sirens filed onto the stage while the crowd went wild. She bit her lip and squeezed her eyes shut, turning back to Trace.

"You look good, Dani." he said, sizing her up.

She met his eerie blue eyes. "Why are you here?"

"I was just carrying something around...figured I'd stick them on each of the bands' bus doors. Unless, of course, you wanted to apologize."

"_I_ don't have to apologize for anything."

Trace took a step toward her and she shrunk back, terrified. He reached out his hand to stroke her cheek but she slapped it away which only made him even more upset.

Her voice shook when she spoke, "You can't control me anymore, Trace. I've learned a lot about myself on this tour and one is that I'm not taking you or your bullshit anymore."

"I should've known you'd leave me for that pathetic pretty boy." he snapped, "Every time he ever interacted with you in any way, you would be happier than when you ever were with me! Why couldn't you ever just accept me for being me? Why did it always have to be Austin?"

"I'm _not _dating him! It might not have occurred to you but I don't need him to be happy! I'm perfectly fine on my own. I have my music and I have my fans."

"Not for long, you won't."

Trace smirked while Danielle held back tears. He already did what he wanted. Whenever the bands saw her, they would just call her that band slut who broke Austin's heart. She didn't want to even think what Austin would do. He would probably never look at her again.

"Just take me back, Dani and I'll take back all those pictures."

Danielle closed her eyes and shook her head. "No."

He shrugged. "You forced me to do this." He picked her up and threw her over his shoulders. She screamed and fought as he carried her away. She searched around the empty lot for help. No one was present outside the venue.

Her heart picked up pace again. She could feel that dry feeling in the back of her throat. She could hear her heart in her ears, blocking out the screams and music behind her. Her breath was coming out in small, ragged steps. She was having a panic attack.

She wouldn't see any of her friends ever again. Austin would probably blame everyone for not watching her. Then again, he could probably care less about what happened to her. What about her band? They wouldn't be able to live with the guilt. She had no one to save her. No one would hear from her again. Her screams were clogged in the back of her esophagus, only a dry sob broke out.

Without any warning, she felt Trace's body give out underneath her with a violent jerk. She rolled uncontrollably across the pavement away from him.

Painfully, she sat up and brushed off the gravel embedded in her hands. A tall, tattooed, lanky man picked Trace up off the ground by his baggy denim vest and threw him against the chain link fence.

After taking deep breaths, her vision cleared and she regained her hearing. She suddenly felt glued to the pavement when she saw who her savior was. How did he know where to find her?

Only a few feet in front of her, Austin angrily stared into Trace's face. His jaw was locked and his eyes were unblinking. Trace laughed at him.

"You think it's funny to abuse girls?" Austin screamed, shaking him.

"Hey, man, she got what was coming to her."

"I don't know what kind of sick, twisted mind you must have to blackmail your own girlfriend with her nude pictures, but it's fucked up!"

Danielle's hand flew to her mouth. Her eyes were protruding out of their sockets. She was right—it was too late for there to be any hope between them.

"I'm sure you enjoyed them though, didn't you?"

"You're lucky I was in my bus when you slammed on my door because the moment I saw the envelope with her name on it, I already knew what it was. I followed you and took off every single one plastered on every single door and shredded them to pieces." Austin said begrudgingly. "Just like I'm going to do to you."

_Wait,_ Danielle thought to herself, _he knew what they were without even _looking_at them?_

"I could easily do it again." Trace threatened, his smile disappearing.

Austin picked him off the fence and threw him against Danielle's tour bus. Trace winced once his head hit the metal wall behind him.

Austin's face was merely inches from Trace's as he screamed, "You better think twice about that because so fucking help me, I _will_ rip your head off right now!"

"How would you know what I did or didn't do with them?" Trace spat back.

"Oh, trust me, I'll find a way."

Trace and Austin stared back at each other with detestation. Danielle still felt paralyzed. Then, a group of security guards ran in and broke them apart, carrying Trace away. She didn't even realize Ronnie had helped her off the ground. She suddenly found her voice again and announced that Trace was carrying his phone in her back pocket. One of the guards pulled it out of his jeans and threw it to her.

Trace winked at Danielle. "Nice knowing you, Dani! No really, the sex was _amazing. _It was like you didn't have to put in any effort at all!"

Ronnie had to push Austin back when he lunged for Trace again, who just laughed at him as he was carried out of the lot. Danielle let out a long breath of air...it was finally over.

"Austin, he's not worth it!" Ronnie shouted, still holding Austin back. Finally, he turned away, kicking her tour bus. He was really abusing that thing today.

Danielle felt awkward. She didn't know whether or not she should thank him—she still didn't know what she said to him last night. Part of her wanted to ask but the other part of her knew it was a bad idea. Now was not exactly the time to talk about her drunk shenanigans.

"Did he hurt you?" Austin asked angrily, holding and examining her face. She shook her head, gently pulling away from his hands. She never saw him so upset, not even when he was on stage. He looked into her eyes, still taking deep breaths to calm down.

"Austin..." she started. But he walked away before she could say anymore, running his hands across his face. She turned to Ronnie, who gave her an awkward shrug.

"He's just heated right now. Give him time." Ronnie pat her shoulder before walking away himself. Danielle swallowed hard, watching Austin slowly disappear into his bus across the lot.

Finally feeling safe, she walked to her signing booth. The rest of her band stood inside of it, happily greeting fans. They all wore smiles until she stepped inside.

"I almost got my career ruined, no thanks to you guys." She snapped.

The guys exchanged guilty glances. Timidly, Andrew faced her first. With a pout, he awkwardly put out his arms and cocked his head to the side. "We're sorry for being major dicks and letting your ex-boyfriend almost kill you and not actually trying to find you?"

She couldn't help it; she had to smile...but there was an eye-roll following that smile. They always knew how to make her feel better. She wrapped herself around Andrew—followed by the rest of the guys—and continued on with their signing. For once, Danielle put on one of the most genuine smiles she's had in a long time. She even listened to her first fan's story about how Dani saved her life. After their crowd died down, she briefly explained to the guys what happened between her, Trace, and Austin. Once more, they apologized. And then, they were headed back to the busses.

On their way, Danielle heard one of her favorite songs playing in the background. She paused and turned toward the sound of Of Mice & Men beginning _O.G. Loko. _Austin was standing at the front of the stage, pointing and smiling at someone in the front of the crowd.

"Dani?" Erick asked.

"I must be psychotic." She mumbled to herself before sprinting away.

"Danielle?" The guys called. She didn't listen to them; she kept running until she was behind the stage.

She waited in the back, watching them play. She just hoped Austin wouldn't see her. She almost wanted to go on stage and sing Aaron's part just to mess with everybody, but it would ruin the plan she had in mind.

As it neared the end of the song, her heart was eagerly jumping in her throat. She smiled during the breakdown when Austin and the rest of the band banged their heads in different rhythmic patterns. When the song finally ended, Austin turned in her direction. This was her chance. Now or never.

She ran out on the stage, catching the attention of the rest of the band. Shocked, Austin instinctively put out his arms when she came straight toward him and latched both hands on either side of his face. She stood on her tiptoes, pressing her lips onto his own. His outstretched arms tightened around her and hugged her closer. The crowd was in sudden uproar.

They both stared into each other's eyes, sharing the same impish smile. It wasn't too late after all.

"What was that for?" He asked.

She shrugged. "You saved my life...again."

Austin's smile grew even wider. She couldn't hide the smile she had while her lips were on his again, knowing several iPhones were documenting this right now. But she didn't care if _these_ pictures and videos were put out for the whole world to see.

Trace was gone. Austin was the only man in her life that she ever wanted and needed.

* * *

**A/N: Well, this is honestly my favorite chapter written because this was the exact scene I had picked out in my head when I wanted to write this story so it's very special to me and I worked super hard to make it precisely how I wanted. :3**


	17. Seventeen

"So, spill," Danielle threw her legs across the couch in the Of Mice & Men's back room, watching Sports Center on the large flat screen propped on the wall. "What was your lovely old high school crush doing back in your life?"

Austin let out a small laugh, lifting her legs and sitting next to her before letting them fall again in his lap.

"Where to start...well, Alan was climbing back on the bus with this strange look on his face. Before I could ask anything, _she_ came through with this grin on her face. I didn't even know what to say when I saw her; my jaw just dropped.

"After bringing her outside and calmly asking what the hell she was doing in Indiana knocking on my tour bus door, she gave me this whole bullshit apology story and told me that all she wanted was to be friends again. I—giving into that story—forgave her and we all went out to eat. That's when we ran into you.

"My intentions were to talk to you after we got back and tell you what happened. When I saw you storming toward me with that incredibly—and might I add, sexy—pissed off look, I knew I was already in deep shit. And then, there came the endless questions from Alyssa."

Smiling deviously, Danielle leaned against the wall behind her and crossed her arms over her chest in a confident way. "Let me guess: she was jealous."

"Oh, completely," Austin said with a laugh. "She asked why you were so annoyed with me hanging out with her. Then, she asked if I was dating you. You had just dumped me on my ass, so I didn't even know how to answer her. Then, she began pointing out that you and Vic seemed to have a thing going on since you two were hanging out so late by yourselves and that just made me more upset."

"Whoa!" Danielle stopped him, putting her hands up in defense. "You honestly thought _Vic_ and I had something going on?"

Austin shrugged. "I didn't really know. Plus this morning you went out with him and Kellin for breakfast and that added on to my anxiety. How was I supposed to know what you were doing together? For all I know you two could have been holding hands or..." he stopped, a sour look on his face.

Danielle pouted at him. "You know Vic still intimidates me. He's nothing more than a brother to me—the reason we were out together that night was because I was explaining to him what Trace did to me; the whole pictures situation."

She watched Austin's knuckles turn white as they curled together in a fist. He shook his head, staring straight at the wall. "Why didn't you tell me about that earlier?"

"Hey, you're not done with explaining what happened with Alyssa!"

Austin let out a laugh, his muscles relaxing. "She was going off about you and I suddenly became so angry that I started screaming at her, telling her how much you meant to me and how you're one of the greatest girls I've ever met. After that, she tried to calm me down—by excessively hanging onto me." Austin shivered. "And then...she kissed me.." his eyes hesitantly gazed over to Danielle, who just stared at him. She knew she didn't have any reason to be angry, she's the one that pushed him out of her life while all of this was going on.

Austin breathed more easily and continued, "She clung to me like a child does with his mother. And when I decided to cool off back in this room, she followed, talking to me about old memories. She told me 'how much she had been thinking about me' and how much she 'wished she could go back and change her mind about me when we were in high school.'"

"So, basically, she tried to fuck you." Danielle stated flatly.

"Yeah," Austin said hesitantly again, "I told her I wanted to be left alone. After sitting there in silence for a few awkward seconds, she left. And then the next day before our set, I told her to get lost."

Danielle raised an eyebrow. "You just randomly told her to leave?"

"Well, not exactly...she called you a dead beat girl who couldn't sing or scream. I told her to never talk about you like that and leave."

"And I thought I had insecurity issues..."

"I promise though, that's everything."

Danielle nodded with a small smile. "I believe you."

"So your turn," Austin said, his face turning serious. "Explain to me why you never told me about your psychotic ex and his horny obsession with you."

"How did you even find out about that?"

Austin stared at her like she had just grown another head. "You told me..." Danielle gave him a puzzled look. "Last night..."

Her eyes widened. "Oh my god." The memory suddenly flashed back in her mind. Her hand flew to her mouth. "I did, didn't I? _That's _why you were so upset!"

"So why didn't you tell me?" Austin pressed.

"I never told _anyone _about it—not even the guys. All I needed was for you to think I was a trashy whore that sent pictures around to guys after barely knowing them."

"He kept them on his _computer_, Dani. You're not a slut and I'm hurt that you would even assume that I would ever think that about you."

"Yeah," Danielle's voice cracked. "He constantly called me a slut for even agreeing to send those pictures to him every time we were in a fight. That stuff just eventually sticks to you."

Austin stared at her with sad eyes. "Had I known you would be with this guy all those years ago, I would have stopped him then and there. You don't deserve to think about yourself this way."

"I don't want you to think I completely hate myself, Austin. You're the reason I learned to love myself...some days though, it comes back to me; all the bad memories and I just self-loathe myself all over again."

"Well then, I promise to keep you out of that dark part of your mind," Austin said silently. Danielle smiled at him. He leaned in to give her a quick, light kiss. They both smiled at each other like they were sixteen-year-olds hiding from their parents in a dark closet. As Austin leaned in to kiss her again, she pushed him away, a sudden thought occurring to her.

"Did I...say anything else to you last night?" She asked cautiously, semi-nervous about the answer.

Austin tried to hide his evident smile. "You, uh—you asked me to 'bang you like you always imagined so Trace would think you're over him.'" He used his fingers as air quotes when he repeated her drunken words.

Danielle's face turned green. She slowly moved away from Austin and headed for the door, looking at nothing but the floor.

"Oh come on, Dani." Austin sounded almost annoyed. She turned toward him, unable to even look him in the eyes.

"I—I'm so sorry." She waited for the door to slide completely open before she walked through. Crew members were already in their bunks, getting ready to go to sleep. She opened the next door and walked out to find Phil, Alan, and Aaron watching TV on one of the couches.

"Dani!" Tino said excitedly. She smiled at them before heading for the door. "Leaving so soon?"

"Uh, yeah, I—I don't feel good." She walked out and quickly strode across the parking lot, repeating hers and Austin's conversation back in her head.

She couldn't believe she said those words to him. She even recalled when she said, _"I mean, hey, if you just wanted me to say you had me, all you had to do was ask or maybe, you know, hold something against me so I'd get in your bed without thinking twice about it."_ She could feel her face flushing just from the thought of the words.

"Dani!" Austin's voice echoed across the lot. She turned around, biting her lip. She still couldn't look him in the eyes. "Danielle, it's okay," he said with a laugh. "You were drunk. I knew not to take advantage of you..."

"I know, I know," she said, looking at his shoes—which she now noticed were really dirty. "What you need to understand is I _do not_ talk about sex out loud except when I'm drinking. So I stopped a few years ago because Erick and I almost _did it._" She scratched the back of her neck, feeling even more uncomfortable.

"Wow, I can't believe I just said that..." she mumbled, turning away.

Austin grabbed her hand and turned her back around. She looked in his eyes for a split second before looking back down uneasily.

"You do know I don't care, right?" Austin said. "You should see what half these girls send me on Twitter and Instagram."

"I just—I—Austin..." she sighed, massaging her temples. "It's not who I am. I'm so sorry I said that to you because you know..." she waved her hands around, unable to form any sentences. "I can't believe I threw myself on you like that."

He laughed. "When you think about it, it's kind of funny."

"No!" She stared at him with wide eyes. When he raised an eyebrow, she looked away, her cheeks turning crimson. "I need to go to sleep."

"Dani!" Austin called as she quickly walked back to her bus.

She waved back at him without turning around. "Good night, Austin!"

She closed the door to her tour bus and walked into the front room. Erick and Jeff were both watching _Spongebob Squarepants_. She stared at them with wide eyes, still in shock.

"You look like you've just seen a ghost." Erick piped up.

"Were you guys aware that I basically asked Austin to sleep with me last night?"

Jeff's head suddenly snapped in her direction. A knowing smirk slid on his face. "Looks like Austin got to see the real side of you, huh?"

"Hey!" She pointed a finger at him while Erick just laughed. "You guys know I don't talk about that stuff out loud."

"From what I recall, every time we played _O.G. Loko _in our shitty tour van,you would just make this gasping face and say something along the lines of '_ohmahgawd, the things I would _do _to him.'_" Jeff bat his eyelashes at her. He was too good at mimicking her.

"_We agreed to _never_talk about that on this tour_!" Danielle said pointedly.

"Oh, sorry. I forgot you wanted Austin to think you're this angelic princess who never did anything wrong." Jeff said, the same smirk still evident on his freckled face.

She glared at him. "Excuse me for not wanting to be creepy. He's someone I look up to. Why would I want him to know I've..." she stopped. They both looked at her with sly smiles. They wanted to hear her say those last few words, just once out loud.

"I'm going to bed now." She hurried toward the bunks, sliding the door closed. She changed into pajamas and climbed up to her bunk. When she opened the Twitter app on her phone, she felt like curling into a ball and disappearing forever.

_Sweet dreams, pretty lady. ;)_

Austin tweeted her. With an embarrassed grin on her face, she tweeted to her followers:

_I should win the award for "Most Awkward Moment in History." #awkwardgirlproblems_

She turned the small light off in her bunk and plugged in her phone to its charger. Just as she was about to settle in and go to sleep, her phone vibrated. Austin tweeted her again:

_More like award for "Most Adorably Awkward Girl with Silly Insecurities."_

Quickly, she tweeted back to him:

_GOOD NIGHT, AUSTIN._

She rolled her eyes when she saw Erick had quoted her tweet and put:

_I'd vote for you #faithfulnessatitsfinest_

Laughing quietly to herself so as not to disturb the rest of her sleeping band and crew, she tweeted to her followers:

_Time to find some new friends that don't pick on me all the time. Good night, Twitter!_

She received one more tweet from Erick, which tagged Jeff at the end, that said:

_But we could see ourselves with no other baby! We've played so many shows together, you know you can never get enough of our love!_

And only seconds later did Austin retweet Erick's tweet. She favorited it with a goofy grin on her face, finally locking her phone and turning away so she could get some sleep just as the bus began moving.


	18. Eighteen

"How many of you have already seen the five videos on YouTube of the infamous lip lock shared between myself and a certain Of Mice & Men member?" Danielle asked the New Jersey crowd. She wasn't surprised to hear almost the entire crowd scream.

She had seen the video herself this morning on Andrew's laptop—from several different angles. Every video was filmed by a girl; you could automatically hear her freak out the minute Danielle ran on stage.

It was weird for her to watch, she had to admit.

"So let's cut the endless 'just say we're dating already' tweets blowing up my phone every day. Yes, we're dating." She looked into one of the girls' cameras that stood at the barrier before continuing, "Are you all fucking happy now?" A large smile spread across her face as the crowd cheered.

"I'ma get a little personal for a second, and then, I promise to shut up and play some music for you guys." Danielle moved her mic's wire nervously and stood on the edge of the stage, examining several of their faces. "You'll never have the perfect relationship. That's what makes the struggle worth it. Don't ever let anyone tell you who you can and can't love." The crowd was quiet except for a few whoops from the crowd.

A slow smile curled on her face and she finished her speech, saying, "This next song goes out to that handsome dude with the tattoos."

.&.

"Put me down!" Danielle screamed when Austin came up behind her, wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her high in the air. "I really hate when you pick me up."

"No, you don't!" He said cheerily, spinning her around.

"Austin Carlile!" She squealed. Laughing, he put her down. She looked at the ground, awkwardly scratching behind her ear.

"When will you get over it and look me in the eyes?" Austin asked, crossing his arms and bending down to her eye level. Every time she looked away, he would follow her gaze until she looked him in the eyes.

"Stop!" Laughing, she pushed his face away. "You're so obnoxious today."

"Because you're making a big deal out of nothing."

She finally looked up at him with a forced angry look. He poked his fingers at her cheeks and pushed them up so she looked like she had a funny smile. He started laughing at her. She slapped his hands away, unable to keep a straight face.

"Seriously, why are you bugging about it so much?" He asked.

"I told you. I just don't talk about it."

"Is it because of what I think it is?"

Trace. She did a half shrug, looking into his eyes again for a few seconds. "It's just embarrassing."

"I think I know enough embarrassing information about you by now."

"Wow, is it almost three already? Looks like it's time for your set." She started walking toward his stage. She heard Austin let out a childish groan and slowly follow behind her.

Behind the stage, she was happily greeted by the rest of the band. While Austin walked off to talk with one of the crew members, Alan stood at Danielle's side and nudged her arm.

"So...you totally want to do Austin, huh?" He smiled. Danielle glared at him. He laughed at her reaction. "Jeff told us. I saw your back and forth tweets from last night."

"You're as bad as them."

"I'd fuck him, too, it's okay."

She let out a laugh. "I used to be the biggest fangirl ever and say stupid shit about him. It's different now."

"Don't worry, Dani." Alan pat her back. "Your secret's safe with me." He winked at her before walking away. While the rest of the band was warming up, Vic showed up behind stage, carrying something in his hands. He threw it in Danielle's lap and sat next to her on the large amp.

"What's this?" She asked.

"Souvenir. I thought you'd enjoy it," Vic said. She unravelled the material to see that it was an Of Mice & Men shirt. She examined it with a puzzled look—then she saw the words wrapped around the _&_ symbol in the middle: _This is faithfulness at its finest._

She forcefully threw the shirt into Vic's chest while he laughed at her.

"You're all jackasses," she said with a reluctant smile. "Did _all_ of you see the Twitter conversation last night?"

"Word gets around, Dani. Plus running out on stage at the end of that song yesterday and kissing the guy like that would've already given away that it's your favorite." He winked at her.

"Shut the fuck up, Victor."

Everyone in the band except Austin went on stage during their intro. The crowd erupted in deafening shouts.

Making his way toward the steps, Austin took in several deep breaths. He met Danielle's eyes and winked at her. She smiled at him before he walked out. The crowd emitted even louder, ear piercing screams.

While they started off with _The Depths, p_art of her teenage self hidden away wanted to get in the crowd and surf to the front like she used to. It was almost like a driven impulse.

"What do you think people would do if I surfed the crowd?" She asked Vic. He stared at her with a concerned expression.

"You? You're so tiny and fragile! I can't see you surfing the crowd of an Of Mice & Men show."

She smirked. "You didn't know me when I was seventeen." Vic laughed and shook his head. "I'm doing it. I'll meet up with you outside the crowd!"

She ran off toward an open part of the crowd, trying to find someone who would be able to lift her. Then, she tapped a random guy on the shoulder.

"Hi! Mind giving me a lift?"

Shocked, the guy nodded. He tapped his friend on the shoulder for help, who gave her the same look as the other guy. As people passed her along, she could swear she heard people asking, "Is that Danielle Perry?!"

Finally making her way to the front after almost being dropped several times, Austin grabbed onto her arm while security helped her over the barrier. Unexpectedly, Austin pulled her up to the stage beside him. He held her close to him, refusing to let her leave.

"I'll throw her back if you promise not to drop her!" He screamed. Her head quickly snapped in his direction with a fearful expression in her eyes. He didn't acknowledge it, but he had a large grin on his face.

She could barely hear the crowd's approving shouts over the music. With a quick swing of the mic over his shoulders, he picked her up by the waist.

"Austin, no!" She screamed, attempting to hold on to nothing. He threw her out into the crowd and landed just as she did a few states back when he threw her to the crowd at her own set before she was gently put down outside of the crowd.

Austin smiled at her, running his hands through his already messed up hair. She flipped him off and walked away, heading back toward the busses with Vic at her side, imitating her face when she was thrown back to the crowd.

"So, you all know there's this girl," Austin started. She stopped in her tracks, rolling her eyes and turning toward the stage. He was looking down at the crowd while he spoke. "She became one of my best friends on this tour and even when I thought she wouldn't take a chance, she actually decided to go on a few dates with me."

Danielle heard several "_awww's_" from the crowd. "Keep in mind those dates consisted of killing zombies on PlayStation, eating spaghetti in an empty diner at eleven at night, watching Sports Center, and staying in each other's busses after all you guys left." He and the rest of the crowd laughed. Danielle even felt a smile creep on her face. "During that time, I never once asked her the one question I wanted to ask when I knew I fell for that beautiful, talented girl."

Danielle's eyebrows furrowed together. Austin looked and pointed at her. Some heads in the crowd turned in her direction.

"Danielle Perry," he called out in his mic. A sudden grin spread on his face. "Will you do me the honor of being my girlfriend?"

Her jaw dropped. She couldn't move. A girl in the middle of the crowd hoisted herself on someone else's shoulders and cupped her hands around her mouth.

"Share the love of Daustin!"

The crowd slowly began chanting for "Daustin." Danielle placed her face in her hands and turned into Vic's shoulder, embarrassed.

Alan walked forward and grabbed the mic out of Austin's hands. "Danielle Grace," he started, "if you don't get your ass on this stage right now, I will personally bring you over here myself. We all know how much you _love _being picked up."

The crowd cheered. Austin laughed, placing a hand over his mouth like he always did when he laughed at something incredibly funny to him. Danielle made her way forward, slowly at first and then at a short run. She climbed onto the front of the stage with the security guards' help and finally looked Austin in the eye.

When he smirked at her, her cheeks turned pink once again. She grabbed Aaron's mic and turned back to Austin. The whole crowd became silent as she stared at him with her mouth agape, looking like an idiot.

"You are my hero, my inspiration, and you've saved my life more times than I can count. And you know I'm not kidding about that. I can't believe how close this tour has brought us together _and _how much it's torn us apart..." He raised an eyebrow at her. A small smile broke on her face. "But I wouldn't have it any other way."

The crowd remained silent. She took in another breath, continuing to force herself to look into his eyes without blushing. "Yes, I would most definitely love being your girlfriend."

Austin grinned wide again. They both wrapped their arms around each other while the crowd erupted into cheers and "_awww's_." He kissed her cheek before turning back toward the crowd, throwing a triumphant fist in the air.

"Not only do I have the most amazing fans in the world, I now also have the most amazing girlfriend." He looked back at her, a wicked grin on his face.

Danielle watched him suspiciously. He had something up his sleeve. "So...meet my dedication to _you_, Dani."

The next song started immediately. Her jaw dropped. She rushed behind the stage, her face incredibly red. Crew members stood in the back, laughing. She hated when everyone else was in on a joke that she wasn't.

"_I'm the artist, paints in white, your skin canvas – I'll leave you scratching, gasping, screaming, screaming..."_

She turned back toward him once she was hidden from the rest of the crowd, her hand over her mouth and her eyes wide. He smiled at her as he backed away from the front of the stage.

"I don't think she can hear you guys!" He shouted into the mic.

She listened as he put his mic out to the crowd and they all screamed the next line. She wanted nothing more than to disappear at that moment, but at the same time she was enjoying the energy she had built up.

When Aaron's part came, Austin swung his mic around and turned on his heel to face her again, poking out his tongue and waggling his eyebrows. "Louder!" He screamed at the crowd.

When Austin's part came back on, Aaron motioned toward his mic. He wanted her to sing. She shook her head immediately, laughing from embarrassment.

"_I could never get enough – I could never get enough of your love"_

She didn't know whether it was the adrenaline or just the guilt of not doing what Aaron asked her to do, but she grabbed the microphone from his stand again and ran to the front of the stage, singing as loud as possible.

"_Meet my dedication, inspiration – it may be smothering you but you know it's the truth – meet my dedication, inspiration – it may be smothering you but you know it's the truth."_

She smirked at Austin, feeling a bit more of that satisfaction she had when she last got on stage with him. But this time, there was no bad tension between them. He turned toward the crowd while the band played the best part of the song.

"Are you fucking ready, New Jersey?"

The crowd shouted. He smiled, wrapping the chord around his neck again and staring out at the crowd with a stern look across his face.

"_I'm still here – this is faithfulness at its finest – I'm still here – this is faithfulness at its finest!"_

He turned back toward Danielle with the same stern expression. With the mic at her side, she screamed the next part of the song with the crowd:

"_I go hard in the motherfuckin' paint, nigga!"_

She banged her head with the rest of the band on stage, a huge smile on her face. And together, she and Austin screamed the last part of the song.

The song ended and she threw up the horns as high as she could in the sky, asking the crowd for more screams. Once they settled down, she headed off the stage. While passing by Alan, he gave her a little shove and winked at her.

"Hate you," she mouthed. She and Austin exchanged one last mischievous glance before she left his viewpoint.

As she walked away from the stage with a sly smile on her face, she could honestly say she felt like the teenage Danielle who blasted Of Mice & Menwhen her parents weren't home and sang along at the top of her lungs.

In other words, she felt like the girl who always dreamed of accomplishing her dreams—and she did.


	19. Nineteen

"When I mean everyone is talking about it, I mean you're trending on Twitter," Andrew said, turning his laptop in Danielle's direction. He was right. On the side of Andrew's Twitter timeline was _#Daustin._

She turned the computer back around and smirked, leaning back into their booth. Erick and Jeff were still teasing her about the whole situation. There were even some shitty iPhone videos on YouTube already of her and Austin during _O.G. Loko._

"I didn't even expect that," Danielle said. "Like, what are the odds?"

"Pretty high considering he was in on our conversation last night," Jeff said.

"Okay, that doesn't mean he was going to play that song almost immediately after claiming me as his _girlfriend_."

"Does it make you happy to have an official title now?" Erick asked with mild sarcasm.

She rolled her eyes. "It was just the fact that before, he wouldn't even _admit_ that I was his girlfriend. It didn't help that we hid the relationship either. Yes, we were dating but that doesn't actually mean I'm automatically considered _his. _I didn't know what he thought or wanted of me."

"You think too much into these things." Erick shook his head.

"Uh, hello? You're talking to the most awkward, socially anxious girl of the decade."

.&.

"New York pizza is literally my favorite thing in the world," Kellin said, eyeing the slice on his plate.

"I quite enjoy it myself, too." Danielle used a napkin to pat off some of the grease on her own pizza.

"You're ruining it!" Justin said, staring at her in disbelief.

Laughing, she said, "I don't like greasy pizza."

"You don't like good shit, man." Justin grimaced once he took a large bite out of his own slice.

The sound of the door opening caught her attention. She wasn't surprised to see Austin walking in with Vic, Ronnie, and Alan behind him. She motioned them over to their large booth. Austin scooted in next to her, followed by Alan. Vic and Ronnie sat on the other side beside Kellin and Justin.

"Little cramped," Justin said, squeezing himself against the half-wall next to him.

"Deal with it." Kellin said, taking his first bite of pizza.

"So, what happened to Trace after he got kicked out the other day?" Danielle asked Ronnie. It was the first time they had spoken since the incident.

"Who cares?" Ronnie shrugged. "It's a good thing I ran into your boyfriend though. Who knows what would have happened to you if I didn't?"

A smile spread across Austin's face. Danielle looked up at him with mild surprise.

Confused, she asked, "I thought you followed him?"

"I did. I didn't follow him out into the venue though. Ronnie and I ran into each other on the way out and he told me Trace was following you around. So I got to you as soon as I could."

"Aw," Danielle said, smiling. When their eyes met and a smirk crept on his face, she looked back down at her pizza. It was still difficult for her to look at him without feeling embarrassed. Obviously, he read into that because he threw his arm over her shoulder and hugged her closer to him. She rolled her eyes. He would never give up.

When the rest of them got up to get their pizza, Danielle's band walked in with Gabe Barham. They smiled and waved at her, sitting at the table next to theirs.

"Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaabe!" Justin shouted happily.

"Oh, no, it's Gabe, ew." Kellin grimaced.

"Ew, it's that guy that sings like a girl," Gabe retorted.

"Ew it's that...guy..." Kellin said. The rest laughed.

"Thanks for inviting us, Dani," Jeff said sarcastically.

"You know I love you." Danielle smiled sweetly.

As the guys sat down, they all talked with louder voices. Some of the things said made Danielle burst into loud laughter, something she hadn't done in a long time.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket. She took it out and unlocked it to see a tweet by Vic, followed by an Instagram picture.

_They're "loko" about each other._

A picture of her and Austin talking in a black and white filter was above this caption. They were both smiling at each other like their faces were stuck that way. She smiled but stared at Vic with menacing eyes. Looking up from his phone for a split second, he grinned at her.

They would never let her hear the end of this.

.&.

"Please?" Austin begged, his puppy dog eyes turning even sadder. Danielle tried her hardest to resist them and not look anymore.

"I'm tired," she lied, trying to pry her hand from his. He wouldn't let her go.

"Just for a few minutes!"

"Busses are leaving in a few minutes!"

"Exactly." He smirked. She blushed, looking away. "It would be so much fun. We can play _Left 4 Dead _all night if you want. Please?"

"No, Austin." She let out a small, nervous laugh.

"You're still embarrassed?" He almost sounded like he was mocking her. "Fine." He let go of her hand. "You're staying in my bus sometime before the end of Warped."

"Is that a threat?" She asked, smiling.

"No, just a simple request that I'd like you to follow." He took a step forward so he was towering right over her menacingly.

She crossed her arms over her chest. "Well, you're a bit demanding."

"And you're a bit adorable."

"Just a bit?" She pouted mockingly.

He laughed, cupping her chin and giving her a quick kiss. Before he could pull away, she gave him her own kiss.

"Get a room!" Erick shouted as he walked toward their bus.

Danielle narrowed her eyes and stuck her tongue out at him. She turned back to Austin, barely looking at his face. She pat his chest.

"So, I'll see you tomorrow." She walked backward while Austin kept his fingers held tightly in hers.

"Guess so," he said sadly. He pulled her back for one more kiss before slowly letting go of her hand. She waved at him before turning away and heading back, a smile on her face.

On her way, she received a text. She pulled out her phone to see who it was from and stopped where she was, too shocked to take another step.

_I agree with Erick. You need to get a room. Better yet, you need to stop acting so innocent in front of Austin. We both know how slutty you really are. Nice move throwing yourself on him during your FAVORITE song, by the way. The offer to come back is still up for grabs, babe. Oh, and don't try to find me. In fact, if I were you, I would run. I'm giving you thirty seconds head start. Just like old times, isn't it?_

Her heart beat fast as her eyes searched across the vacant lot. Tears brimmed her eyes and she gripped tighter to her phone, afraid it may slip through her sweaty and shaky hands.

She didn't have to be told twice; she tore across the parking lot and into her own bus. Erick looked up at her from the table, confused. The rest of the guys sat on the couch, preoccupied with their own business. But her next few words caught their attention faster than the speed of light.

"Trace is here."

* * *

**A/N: So YES, Trace is still around. Creepy, right? That was the point. So, this is where all the more recent chapters will start. And where the interesting stuff really kicks into high gear...**


	20. Twenty

"Danielle, there's no one here." Vic's voice was annoyed yet reassuring on the other end of the phone.

"He might've left already but I swear, Vic, he's out there." Dani held tightly to Andrew's hand, tears falling quickly down her cheeks. Erick was pacing back and forth, staring out the window over their couch with distaste. Jeff sat on the other side of her, gently rubbing her knee.

"I have literally looked everywhere. I've asked crew members. I've asked some of the other bands—no one has seen him."

She let out a shaky sigh. "I know he's there."

"Are you sure this isn't somebody messing with you?"

"Vic, he texted me from _his _phone number! He heard what Erick said to Austin and me! And he said specifically 'just like old times, isn't it?' I'm not making this up!" Her voice got louder. Andrew squeezed her hand to help her calm down.

"Okay, okay," Vic said defensively. "Have you even told Austin?"

"No." Danielle said immediately. The last thing she wanted to do was worry Austin about Trace. Yet in a way, she wanted to take him up on his offer and stay in his bus for the night. But she knew she would be just as safe in her own with the amount of guys she had sleeping in the same room as her.

"Danielle..."

"This isn't any of Austin's concern. He doesn't need to be worried about Trace."

"Oh, and I do?" Vic asked agitatedly. "Your band does? But not your fucking _boyfriend?"_

"Is this really important right now?" Danielle snapped.

"Yes, Dani, it kind of is!"

"You know what? Just go back to your bus and go to sleep. Forget I ever said anything. Thanks for your fucking help. Thanks for _'always being there for me no matter what.'_"

She disconnected the call after repeating the same words he said to her that night she spilled her long kept secret about Trace. She clenched her teeth, staring directly ahead of her.

Erick finally stopped pacing and crouched in front of her, sadly looking into her eyes. "I hope you know just because Vic is being a dick right now doesn't mean that we won't help you through this."

She nodded, getting up from the couch and heading toward the bunk room. "Too bad there's nothing you guys could do anyway. We all know Trace is stronger than he looks. If Austin hadn't caught him off-guard, he probably would've beaten him to a pulp."

"Nah, I think Austin's got a little more meat than him." Andrew smirked, attempting to cheer her up. "Isn't that why you like him anyway?"

Danielle blushed. She closed the door to the bunk and heard their silent snickers behind it. Changing into her pajamas, she climbed into her bunk and shut the curtain. She hugged her pillow tightly, wishing she could trade it in for Austin.

.&.

"Sorry to burst your bubble, kid, but I kinda agree with Vic," Kellin said, biting into his bagel.

Once she woke up in Connecticut, she took a walk outside and met up with Kellin. She informed him of everything that had happened last night and that was his response, which kind of upset her.

"It's just because you're best friends." She rolled her eyes.

Kellin laughed and shook his head. "You're my best friend, too. And so are all the guys in my band. But Dani, you can't _not _tell Austin things. Remember what happened when he didn't tell you about Alyssa? How did you feel then?"

She shrugged, looking away. "I felt...stupid."

"If Austin doesn't think you can rely on him, there's going to be another shit storm between you two and I frankly don't want to hear about it."

Danielle shrugged again. She knew he was right, she just didn't want to admit it.

She headed back to her bus to find the rest of her band already up and energized.

"Dani!" Andrew yelled. "Are you ready for today?!"

"Why are you guys so cheerful?" She watched them cautiously.

"I don't know, just woke up this way!" Erick said, playing with his guitar. "And hey, if we happen to see Trace, we'll just bash his head in with our instruments!"

Danielle laughed. "Okay, whatever you say."

The bands started getting ready for their sets of the day. Danielle and her band walked with Chunk! No, Captain Chunk! to the Ernie Ball Stage, discussing their weirdest fan experiences.

Danielle admitted her secret of singing along and dancing to their set while backstage and then acting completely cool when they came off. They all found it rather funny because they laughed about it for a longer time than she intended, making her blush with embarrassment.

A sudden kiss to the side of her face made her jump. Austin sat next to her on the steps of the stage, smiling. She forced a smile back, trying hard to hide the fact that she was keeping him in the dark about Trace. Part of her wanted to check her phone to see if she received anymore creepy texts from him, but she knew Austin would just read them over her shoulder if she did.

"How'd you sleep?" Austin asked, pushing her out of her thoughts.

"Pretty good." She lied. "How about you?"

"Would've been better if youstayed with me." He smirked. She looked away, shaking her head. He leaned his head against hers and softly said in her ear, "I hope you're not still embarrassed about what I think you're embarrassed about."

She faced him again, a sly smile on her face. He looked her in the eyes innocently.

"Now you're just making fun of me." She said.

Austin pointed to himself with a mocking pout face. "Never would I ever..."

She pushed him playfully and he laughed.

Coming out of the back of the Kia Soul stage a few hundred feet away was Vic. He happened to look in her direction just as she was looking at him. Walking back to the bus lot, he shook his head and looked away with an angry look on his face. She looked down at her Vans uncomfortably. The last thing she wanted was for Vic to be mad at her.

"So are you going to tell me what's wrong?" Austin asked suddenly. She looked up at him, her eyes wide.

"I...uh..."

"I'm not an idiot, Dani." He let out a small laugh. "I knew from the moment I sat down that something was wrong."

"I'm just tired."

"Liar."

She swallowed over the lump in her throat, breaking their eye contact. Thinking about how he would react to her encounter with Trace made her palms sweat.

Everything was going so perfectly. Why did he have to show up and ruin everything _now?_

Because he's Trace, destroyer of everything, that's why.

"I mean, is it me? Did I do something wrong?" Austin asked.

"No, no." Dani said, grabbing his hand. "I just—I got into an argument with Vic about something and I'm just upset."

Austin was quiet. "Vic? Why does that bother you?"

She met Austin's eyes again, sparkling with skepticism. She was so bad at this lying stuff.

"He's my best friend. I just...care a lot."

Austin stood up suddenly. "When you're ready to tell me what's _actually _wrong, I'll be here to listen."

"Austin..." She sighed, closing her eyes. "That's it. It really is."

Austin held onto both sides of her face. She felt like it was impossible to look away.

"Look me in the eyes and tell me you're not hiding something from me."

She stared in his eyes and opened her mouth, unable to speak. "I—I'm not hiding anything."

Austin raised an eyebrow. "Like I said, when you're ready to talk, I'll be here." He quickly kissed the top of her head and headed off toward his own stage; the same stage as Pierce the Veil's.

"Great..." she said quietly to herself before getting up to help her band set up.

.&.

"I think drama just follows you around like a virus..." Jenna said, flipping through an AP magazine in Danielle's bus. "First, Austin and Trace, then Austin and his old high school slut, and now Vic and Trace _again_?"

Danielle shrugged, staring up at the muted TV on her wall. "Has Vic ever gotten mad at you? Like...ever?"

Jenna shrugged. "Not that I recall. He's never had much to be mad about."

Danielle groaned, rolling her neck back. "Why is my life so fucking complicated?"

Jenna laughed. "I'm sure Vic's easily won back over. He just wants you to talk to Austin about Trace."

"No," Danielle said, lifting her head back up to look at Jenna. "He's just tired of hearing about my drama 24/7. That's why I'm talking to you—you don't constantly hear about my problems. And you're not a dude! You can actually help me without just shrugging your shoulders and saying _hey, man, just jerk off and forget about it."_

Jenna laughed louder. Danielle laughed at her own joke as well. These were the reasons she needed a girl friend in her life. Being in a band surrounded by guys all the time was just getting to be too much. She wanted more girls to talk to and hang around.

"All right, if you want my honest advice, here it is..." Jenna put down the magazine and faced Danielle, clearing her throat. "Being a close friend of Vic's, I can honestly tell you that he's one of the nicest guys I've ever known. He acts like an asshole to people he's just met—besides fans—because he _wants _to intimidate you. Now, I don't know what suddenly brought you two so close together and that's none of my concern, but even I noticed how close you guys became. And I can honestly tell you right now, no matter how mean he can be to you, he _always _cares. He'll be your friend for as long as you want him to be. He's always had my back just like he'll always have yours.

"I think the fact that you basically mocked him for what he said about always being there for you hurt him in several ways. I think he feels like you don't trust him and because of that, you've pushed him away. He doesn't like not being trusted because he knows he's a trustworthy person. He was helping you try to calm down last night even though he was yelling at you and you spat it back in his face...I hope that doesn't sound too mean. I didn't intend for it to be."

Dani took in every word Jenna just said. Jenna held a grimace, nervously twisting her hands together. Finally, Danielle nodded and stood up, heading for the door.

"I'm sorry, Dani!" Jenna called, following after her.

"No, Jenna," Dani laughed, turning toward her when she was walking out the door. "You helped me so much. Thank you."

It took a while for Jenna to register what Danielle just said.

"Oh...right...you're welcome."

Danielle trudged across the venue to the Kia Soul stage. Sitting behind it was the whole Pierce The Veil band. Each of them looked up at her simultaneously. Jaime smiled at her and put out his hand for a high-five.

"Dani! What are you doing back here?" He asked cheerily over Miss May I's set. Vic looked up from whatever he was doing and met her eyes. Without showing any emotion, he looked back down.

"I have to talk to Vic," she said to Jaime as quietly as she could.

"He's kinda in the zone right now..." Mike said, leaning in to their conversation.

"Has he been really antsy all day?" She asked nervously. Jaime and Mike exchanged a puzzled look and then shrugged.

"Haven't honestly noticed," Jaime said.

"He hasn't said much though," Tony joined in. "He's been pretty quiet all day actually."

"What about last night after he came back into the bus for the night? Did he seem different?" She asked.

"He just went straight to bed." Mike shrugged. Dani sighed, looking back at Vic. He walked away from his spot without looking at any of them and headed for the bus lot.

"Hey, Vic!" Mike called. "We're playing a set in like, fifteen minutes!"

Vic kept walking without a response. The rest of the guys exchanged uneasy glances before all staring at Dani. She felt like shrinking away at that moment.

"What'd you do?" Jaime asked suddenly.

"I might've...yelled at him last night and pissed him off?"

"Smooth move, Dani." Mike said.

"I'm sorry! I was stressed out because Trace was there and he texted me and—"

"I thought we bagged your psychotic ex..." Jaime interjected.

"Yeah, so did I."

"The fuck was he doing back in New York..." Mike asked, narrowing his eyes.

"I have to play a set myself in a few. Please don't mention this to Vic. I want to talk to him about it myself." Dani pleaded.

"Secret's safe with us." Jaime said. "But you better cheer him up later and apologize."

.&.

After Danielle's set, she headed off to the Pierce The Veil signing booth. A whole crowd was swarmed in front of it, consisting mostly of teenage girls in bikini tops and denim shorts. Vic sat next to Tony and Jaime with a smile on his face—that was something they both had in common, fake smiles.

She climbed into the booth and sat next to Vic in the extra chair leaning against the wall. He didn't even acknowledge her existence and signed something for a fan with a huge smile on his face.

"Can I talk to you?" Danielle asked with a hand covering one side of her mouth so the fans couldn't see what she was saying.

"I'm busy." He said flatly. "Hey, I remember you!" He said cheerily to a fan. He got up and gave her a big hug and continued to have a long conversation with her.

Once she left and he sat back down, Danielle said, "I'm sorry about what I said last night. I really am."

Vic finally looked at her. It was like they weren't even friends. He wore the same face he always had before they became so close—blank and unchanging.

"Like I said, I'm busy."

"Vic, please don't do this to me."

"Danielle..." He inched closer to her face and dropped his voice to a whisper. "Get out of my band's booth."

Clenching her jaw tightly, she got up and left, taking quick strides across the venue trying her hardest not to cry again. She turned back around to see Vic put that huge smile back on his face.


	21. Twenty-One

"It never fucking stops, does it?" Danielle slammed the Of Mice & Men tour bus shut. Austin looked up from his phone with wide, surprised eyes. Alan and Aaron sat on the couch, giving her the same look.

"You know, sometimes I wonder why I ever think about quitting this job and then I see posts like these and I remember why!" She yelled again.

"Danielle, what are you talking about?" Austin asked as calmly as possible.

She carelessly threw her phone on the table in front of Austin. He picked it up and read it with a sour expression before looking back up at the pissed off Danielle.

Another girl took a picture of her and Vic's encounter earlier that day with the caption:

_Getting a little too close for comfort, are we?_

Along with tagging Vic and herself. After checking the girl's profile, she could place exactly who it was in the crowd that took it, too.

"I still think you look sexy when you're pissed off," Austin said with a small smirk.

Alan snorted. She glared at him and he put his hands up in surrender.

"It's not funny." She turned back to Austin. "I'm really upset."

"Why did you guys get into an argument anyway?" Austin asked.

_Shit. _She pursed her lips. She totally forgot that she didn't tell Austin yet. He stared at her, waiting for an answer. She considered taking him outside and telling him...but then she had a better idea.

She took a deep breath and held it before saying, "I called Vic after I got back in the bus and he was looking around for someone that sent me a creepy text message about what Erick said to you and me when we were saying goodbye last night."

It wasn't the whole truth but it wasn't a whole lie either.

"Who sent it to you?" Austin asked, his face hardening like stone. She shrugged. "Danielle..."

"I don't know!" She said loudly.

"How does that pertain to you having an argument with Vic?" Alan asked.

_Oh my god, Alan, shut up. _She thought in her head.

"Yeah, how?" Austin asked suddenly.

_See what you do, Alan?_

She sighed, sitting across from Austin at their table. She twiddled her thumbs, trying to think of an excuse—any excuse she could come up with—to avoid the subject of Trace. But she was running out of time and Austin was running out of patience.

"It was Trace." She said quietly. Austin didn't answer. She peeked up from underneath her lashes. He stared, unblinking, right through her. "Vic got mad at me because I wouldn't tell you that he texted me...and then I basically mocked him for saying he would always be there for me when he wasn't."

The tension in the room was becoming unbearable. She shifted uncomfortably in her seat as Austin continued to stare at her with a mysterious eerie look in his eyes.

"Please say something, Austin..." she said meekly.

"How?" He asked through clenched teeth.

"I don't know..."

"Why didn't you come to me straight away?" Austin finally blinked and looked in her eyes angrily. "Why did you call Vic, not me?"

"Because I knew this is exactly how you would react."

Austin was taken aback. His muscled relaxed. He sat back, running his hands across his face.

"I don't want you going anywhere alone anymore."

She rolled her eyes. "I don't need a babysitter."

"Yeah? What happened last time he was around and no one was able to help you? Do you even understand the anxiety I felt when Ronnie told me Trace was at that venue following you? Do you know how fast I ran? My heart could have given out, Danielle. When I tossed that douche bag around, I was seeing red. I don't think you understand how much I would've hated myself if I got there too late. God only knows what he would've done to you."

Danielle stared at him, speechless. He got up and headed for the door. After a few awkward seconds of silence, she looked over at Alan and Aaron, both staring up at the TV with stone faces. She quickly left the bus. Austin was already halfway across the lot.

"Austin!" She chased after him. When she finally caught up, she grabbed his arm and turned him around to face her. "I didn't mean it like that. This is why I wouldn't tell you! I knew you would become protective and give me all this unneeded attention because that's what you always do. I don't need it. I really don't."

"I do it because I care, Dani. Had I never let Alyssa on my bus, you never would've had to deal with him. This time, I'll make sure that asshole doesn't get within five hundred feet of you."

Danielle let out a small laugh. "Don't make promises you can't keep."

"I told you a long time ago I won't let anything bad happen to you and I'll continue to keep that commitment." He grabbed her hand and held tightly to it.

She smiled and blushed. She wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face in his chest, feeling a sense of security.

"You do too much for me," she whispered into his shirt.

.&.

After the venue closed up and the bands were all headed to a diner, Danielle stayed behind, knowing one person who wouldn't go. Thankfully, she was right.

Vic headed to his bus alone after everyone left. Dani made her way over, not even bothering to knock on his door.

She instantly regretted it.

Vic stood there in his boxers, staring at Dani. She stared back. That was one too many Pierce The Veil members she's seen in their underwear.

"Sorry..." she said timidly.

Vic let out a frustrated sigh and headed to the bunk room and pulled out a pair of pants. Instead of coming back out after he put them on, he went to the back room. She awkwardly followed and sat on the couch across from him.

"It's my band and crew only allowed back here." He said flatly.

"As if I haven't been here before." She retorted. When he didn't say anything more, she continued, "I told Austin. I told him everything."

Vic raised his eyebrows. "That's great."

"But I know that's not why you're upset. You're upset because of what I said about you not being there for me. I know that what I said was wrong and I'm sorry. I was just stressing out and I was upset and you were yelling at me—so I said that without thinking. You're one of the greatest friends I've had and you helped me through all that bullshit with Austin. I couldn't be more grateful to have you in my life."

Danielle stared at Vic, waiting for a response. He looked less annoyed, but he still wouldn't say anything to her.

"I get it. You don't have to forgive me; I won't hold it against you. But I really am sorry, Vic. I'll wait for you to come around but I won't push you out of my life, I promise. You're one of my best friends."

When he didn't say anything else, she got up and headed to the front of the bus. Loud footsteps behind her made her spin around. Unexpectedly, Vic held her face and locked a passionate kiss on her lips.

_What. The. Fuck. _Her thoughts were suddenly racing a thousand miles per hour. _Why is he kissing me? What? Wait, why am I _letting _him kiss me?! Oh, God, all I need is for someone to come in and see this and tell Austin. WHY AM I STILL KISSING HIM?!_

She pushed away, staring up at him with wide eyes. He looked down at her, a shocked look across his own.

"I'm sorry, too," he said. "First of all, I'm sorry for being a dick last night. I do that sometimes. It's not your fault. Second, I'm sorry for kissing you. I just—I...I had to." He swallowed hard and stared at her, confusion still set in his own eyes.

She stared back at him, unable to speak for a moment. She shook her head and blinked a few times, still trying to take in everything that just happened.

"So...we're...we're good?" She asked.

"Uh. Yeah. Yeah, we're good." He laughed nervously. She smiled and began walking away again until Vic pulled her back into a friendly embrace. "I consider you one of my best friends, too. I care about you and I don't want to see you get hurt. I'm still sorry about acting so rudely to you last night."

She awkwardly hugged him back, still shocked. "It's okay, Vic." They hugged for a few seconds longer and she tried hard not to think about what would happen if Austin found out about this.

* * *

**A/N: LOL OH SHIT I'M SORRY THAT JUST KINDA HAPPENED PLEASE DON'T HATE ME. I CREATE A LOT OF DRAMA, I'M SORRY. So. Yeah. That was. Really awkward. I don't even know. Spoiler alert, I kind of intended to have something like this happen but I didn't know if I actually wanted to put that in or not but this fit perfectly and yeah. Wow. Okay. This is turning into like a teenage ABC Family drama show. I need to stop. ;-; bye.**


	22. Twenty-Two

"I'm sorry...what?"

Danielle stared at Erick with wide eyes and nodded. She just let it slip that Vic kissed her. He stared back at her, his blue eyes shining under the bus's low light. He readjusted himself so he was sitting Indian-style on the couch, facing Dani.

"Vic Fuentes...kissed _you?"_

"What are you trying to say?" Danielle asked offendedly.

"No, I'm asking what the hell is wrong with him?"

Danielle stared at him with hurt in her eyes. Erick shook his head and put his hands out defensively. He tapped his lips, thinking hard.

"What I mean is..." he narrowed his eyes. "You're...dating...Austin..."

"Yeah..." Danielle said slowly.

Erick put his hands up in frustration. "_Why did Vic Fuentes kiss you, then?!"_

"I'm still trying to figure that out, Erick!"

"I'm sorry, _what?"_

Both Dani and Erick looked over at Jeff, sticking his head out of the bunk room's door with the same wide eyes as Erick. Danielle squeezed the bridge of her nose.

"Oh, God," she muttered inaudibly.

"Do I need hearing aids or did I just hear what I think I heard?" Jeff stepped out of the room completely, wearing nothing but his Spongebob boxers.

"Here we go..." Dani said quietly. "And Jeff...put some damn clothes on. I already had to see Vic in his underwear, I don't need to see yours, too!"

Jeff's eyes widened even more. _"Danielle Perry, what—"_

"_I didn't mean it like that!"_ Danielle said loudly. "Well, I guess the cat's out of the bag already. Yes, Vic kissed me."

"May I ask why?"

"_I. Don't. Know."_

Jeff ran a hand over his face and through his dirty blonde hair. "Dani, do you realize that you aren't single anymore?"

Danielle smiled at him sarcastically. "Thanks for the information, Jeff. I had no clue, really."

"Does this mean Vic's always had a thing for you? I mean, I never noticed. Or do you think it was just a spur of the moment type of thing, like...?"

Danielle shrugged, her mouth unable to form words. She jumped when she heard the door open. Austin climbed in with a big grin on his face.

_Oh, fan-fucking-tastic, _she thought, _just when I didn't think it could get any worse._

He looked at Danielle, the same grin on his face. She stared at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes?" She asked.

"So, how about that sleepover?" He asked.

She laughed, shaking her head. "Not tonight, Austin."

He frowned. "You don't come to dinner because you wanted to talk to Vic and now you won't even spend time with me? How'd that go with Vic anyway?"

She raised her eyebrows. "Oh...it was fine. We're okay now."

Austin stared at her skeptically. "Okay..."

"Another night, I promise."

"Why?" He whined.

She groaned. "You're like a child!"

He grabbed her hand and pulled her off the couch. "Pleeeeease?" He looked into her eyes pitifully. She could feel every ounce of regret dripping down her back.

Why did Vic have to kiss her? This just made things ten times more complicated just when it was getting easier.

"Fine." She shrugged. Happily, Austin picked her up and spun her around. "Do that again, and I might just change my mind."

.&.

Danielle almost completely forgot about Vic's kiss while she sat in the back of the Of Mice & Men tour bus, screaming at _Call of Duty _every time a zombie tried to break through her barricade. Alan sat next to her, laughing every time she jumped. Austin sat on the other side, tweeting the experience from his MacBook Pro.

"Hey, Austin, why don't you have a go?" Alan said. "I'm getting a little tired of your girlfriend's pussy screams."

"Hey!" She said, staring at him angrily. "This is ten times scarier than _L4D!"_

"Which is why it's better," Alan sneered. She stuck her tongue out at him and he mimicked her back.

"Are you sure you two aren't actually siblings? You sure as hell act like it." Austin said. "Dani, are you secretly ginger?"

"You caught me, Austin. Fire crotch all the way." She smirked, shooting aimlessly at a swarm of zombies.

"That's why you didn't get laid the other night, Austin," Alan said.

Danielle's jaw dropped. She stared at Alan who just smiled back deviously. Then, her head turned to Austin. His eyes were wide and he put his hands up in surrender.

"That's all him, I swear." He laughed.

Danielle turned back to the TV, pursing her lips. "Yeah, because it's only in _your _dreams, Carlile."

Alan laughed. "Let's be honest, Dani. We all know about _O.G. Loko_."

"You better change that topic now, Alan," Danielle said mid Alan's sentence.

"_Ohmygod, Dani! Look out, a zombie's behind you!" _Alan shouted. Danielle screamed shrilly and spun around, shooting aimlessly. Only a few seconds afterward did the zombies attack both of their characters and the round end.

"I hate you!" She punched Alan's chest. He curled up defensively, laughing.

He ruffled his hand through her hair before standing up and stretching. "I think it's time I called it a night. Don't make too much noise, you two." He winked at them before heading out.

Austin closed his laptop and set it on the corner table and stretched himself, letting out a long yawn. He turned to Dani, a smile on his face. She watched him with a small smile on her own.

She was sitting in the back of the Of Mice & Men _tour bus_. Austin Carlile, her _boyfriend_, was sitting merely inches from her. It was still mind-blowing to her.

Austin mimicked her stance, turning his body toward her, resting his elbow on the top of the couch with his knuckles pressed against his temple, and his head tilted slightly. She smiled wider and pushed him playfully.

"Don't mimic me."

He raised an eyebrow. "I do what I want."

She stuck her tongue out at him and he did the same back. Then, he leaned forward and gave her a quick kiss. When he pulled away, her head fell forward with his like she didn't want him to leave her. Almost immediately after, he held both sides of her face and kissed her again, giving her a sudden flashback to Vic's kiss. She pulled away, confusing Austin.

"What's the matter?" He asked, staring at her concernedly.

She shook her head and let out a small laugh. "Nothing. Sorry..." She met his eyes again. He gave her a small smile and kissed her again, but the same image of Vic popped back into her head, taunting her.

She got up and ran her hands through her hair, looking out the window. Austin said nothing for a moment—that wasn't like him. She turned back to face him...he actually looked hurt.

"Dani...do you not want to...?"

"No, no," she cut him off, sitting down next to him again. "I'm sorry. I just...everything that's been going on lately. I can't stop thinking about it all and every time I close my eyes I just..."

"Hey, hey, hey," Austin said quickly, pulling her into a tight hug. "Don't worry, everything'll be fine. Have you gotten anymore creepy texts from Trace?"

"No..." she said silently, resting her head in the crook of Austin's neck.

"Then, don't worry about it right now. You trust me to keep you safe, right?" He looked down at her, tilting her chin up so she could look him in the eyes. She nodded, a small smile on her face. He stared into her eyes like he had something more to say but he bit his tongue and held it back.

Danielle pressed her hand to his face and smiled, caressing her thumb along his cheekbone. "You do so much for me."

"I know."Hhe let out a small laugh. She squeezed his cheeks together, pursing his lips. She tilted her head up to kiss them before letting his face go.

ADanielle wrapped her arms around his neck while their lips met once again, her fingers mindlessly running through his hair. Austin gently pushed her down on the couch, his hand finding its way down her thigh.

She looked up into his eyes shining down at her. There was something in them she had never seen before; so happy and content. They were sparkling, matching the smile on his face.

"You know what this reminds me of?" She said quietly, her fingers still playing with the hair on the nape of his neck.

"What?" He asked, tilting his head.

"The first night you kissed me without any warning." She smirked.

He laughed quietly. "Could you blame me?"

She shrugged. "It just caught me off guard is all."

He smiled. "That's when they're the best."

He locked his lips back on hers before she could say anything more. While Dani's fingers through his hair locked tighter, his hand suddenly found its way under her shirt, sending tingles across her whole body. But before anything more could happen, a sudden flashback of Trace caused her to stop.

She broke away and inched herself into the corner of the couch, hugging her knees to her chest. Slow, shaky breaths escaped her lungs. She met Austin's eyes, filled with hurt and concern. Tears brimmed her own as she closed them and placed her head between her legs.

"I'm so sorry..." she said quietly. "I'm so, so sorry."

"No, Dani..." Austin said softly, pulling her close to him again and petting her head. "I should've known better."

Her tears subsided as she clutched to Austin's shirt, inhaling his scent. She closed her eyes and listened to the sound of their breathing.

_It's Austin, not Trace. Austin. Not Trace. Austin._

"Do you wanna go to sleep?" He asked suddenly, snapping her out of her thoughts. She nodded quickly. They both got up and headed out to the bunk room. Austin threw off his Slipknot shirt, and jeans, and threw them to the side, climbing into his bunk.

Timidly, Danielle took off her own jeans and joined Austin in his spacious bunk. After she closed the curtain and Austin pulled the blanket over both of them, he looked into her eyes with a small smirk.

"What?" She whispered.

"Cute polka dots," he said.

She blushed. "Shut up, Batman boxer briefs."

After sharing a silent laugh between both of them, Austin switched off the small light in his bunk and Danielle wrapped herself around him. He threw his own arm over her and protectively pulled her closer.

Even though she had a lot on her mind and she wished she still wasn't so jumpy about Trace, she can honestly say she fell asleep smiling that night.

* * *

**A/N: I wanted to write something cute. And like. Yeah. WELL, ENJOY BITCHES XOXO.**


	23. Twenty-Three

After Danielle's set in Pittsburgh, she hurried off the stage, the smile falling from her face. Jeff turned her around, giving her _that _look; the look he always gave her when she was beating herself up for no reason.

"Tell him," he said.

"Absolutely not," she replied quickly, throwing her microphone's cord around her shoulders. "He doesn't need to know."

"I think he does, Dani." Jeff's tone had turned harsh.

"It was a one time thing, Jeff! Vic and I are okay now."

"Are you sure about that?" Jeff crossed his arms in front of him. "It's eating you away, Danielle, and I'm not about to sit here and let you be sad_again."_

"I'm fine."

She stormed away after that, throwing her water bottle off to the side in anger. And of course, her phone vibrated in her pocket. She pulled it out to read Trace's name flashing on her screen. She spun around, trying to find where he was.

She opened the text and read it to herself.

_If you don't tell Austin, I'll gladly tell him for you. You seemed to enjoy that kiss too much if you ask me._

Angrily enough and without thinking, she texted back.

_I fucking dare you, Trace._

She stood where she was after she sent it, her eyes still searching the venue for any sign of him. Only a few seconds later did he reply,

_On my way now. You may want to get there first, try to explain yourself, you know? I'll see you there, sweetheart._

"Bluffer," she mumbled under her breath. Suddenly, he texted her again and her heart leaped into her throat. She felt like she might start crying from fear.

_No, Dani. I'm really not a bluffer._

She ran as fast as her legs would allow her to. She ran past the people, past the signing booths to the bus parking lot. She stopped in front of the Of Mice & Men tour bus, staring at the door. What was she supposed to say? She lied to Austin about Trace's text messages? He had been texting her ever since that first night, but she told him he wasn't.

Catching her breath, she leaned against the bus next to her and sank to the ground with her fingers locked in her hair. A sob escaped the back of her throat and she buried her head in her arms, softly crying to herself.

The sound of footsteps made her head snap up. She looked toward the source of the sound, her heart beating faster. They were getting closer. Should she run? She felt paralyzed. When they rounded the corner, she wished she had run. It was the last person she wanted to deal with right now.

"Dani?" Vic helped her off the ground and wiped at her tears. He held her face and looked into her eyes. "I heard you crying from my own bus. What are you doing here?"

She just started crying even more before locking her arms around him. He hugged her back wordlessly, running his hand tenderly up and down her back. Why did this have to happen now? Out of all things possible in the world, _this _had to happen.

"Did something happen with Austin?" Vic asked. She shook her head. "Trace?" After a few hesitant seconds, she nodded. He pushed her away at arms length and studied her face. "Give me your phone."

She reached into her pocket and dug out her phone, handing it to Vic. After having her put in her passcode, he read the texts between her and Trace. Her palms were sweating nervously. She and Vic hadn't exactly talked about the kiss every since it happened. She didn't really want to.

Finally, he nodded, locking her phone and handing it back to her. She stared at him nervously, waiting for him to say something.

"You _should_ tell him," he said without looking at her.

That was surprising.

"I cant," she whispered. "He'll never talk to you again. Who knows what he'll do?"

Vic let out a small laugh and met her eyes. "Dani, you worry about other people too much. I think actually telling him will make you feel a lot better."

She shook her head, a lump forming in her throat. "I can't."

Vic placed both hands on either of her shoulders and looked her in her eyes. "Danielle, I'm not your boyfriend. What I did was purely based on impulse and I shouldn't have done it."

"Then, why did you?!" She suddenly screamed. Vic flinched back, not expecting her to scream. "Why did you have to! You've never shown any interest toward me ever and then suddenly, you have an impulse to _kiss_ me?"

Vic placed a hand over her mouth, bringing a finger to his lips. "I know you're upset. Like I said, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have. I really, really shouldn't have. I'm sorry. Austin can do whatever he wants to me because I deserve it. I'm so, so sorry."

Dani shoved his hand off her mouth and stared at him. "Why did you do it?" She asked quietly.

He took in a huge breath of air. Just as he was about to speak, a voice calling out his name interrupted him. They both looked over to see Kellin running toward them with a smile on his face.

"What are you guys doing over here?" He asked, looking between Danielle and Vic.

"Nothing," they both said at the same time. Kellin raised a skeptical eyebrow.

"Austin wants to talk to you," Kellin said to Vic.

Danielle looked scared but Vic remained totally calm. "All right, cool. Where is he?"

"Kia Soul Stage. He's going on soon so I'd hurry." Kellin pat Vic's back as he ran off and turned to Danielle.

"So, what were you really doing back here?" He leaned against the Of Mice & Men tour bus, smirking.

"It was really nothing, Kellin."

"Because I believe that." Kellin shoved his hands in his pockets. "Has Trace been texting you?"

She looked at the ground, nodding.

"Let me see," he insisted, putting a hand out. Danielle immediately shook her head no and looked up at him. "Why not?"

"Because it's personal."

He laughed. "We're best friends."

"Kellin, trust me. No one knows about this."

"Except Vic, right?"

Danielle kept her mouth shut.

"You've only known him for like, a month, Dani." Kellin crossed his arms in front of him. "I don't mean to sound like a dick but that kind of offends me."

"Yeah, but..." she tried to find an excuse but nothing came up. "I'm sorry, Kellin."

Kellin stared at her, confused. "Danielle...what did you do?"

"Nothing."

"Dani."

"_I _didn't do anything! It's not my fault!"

"What isn't?"

Danielle shook her head and began walking away. The last thing she wanted was to argue with Kellin. He always wanted to know about what happened in her life because he always thought he could miraculously help her.

"Dani!" He called, following after her. "I'll get it out of you eventually! So you might as well tell me now because I won't stop bugging you about it. Whatever it is, I can help...Dani!"

"Vic kissed me!" She screamed, spinning around to face him. He stopped where he was. She stared at him, tears clouding her vision. "And I don't know why! He won't tell me and all he keeps saying is that he's sorry for doing it and that I should tell Austin. I feel like I'm losing my mind!"

Kellin pulled her into a hug, wrapping protective arms around her. She pressed her face into his shoulder, unable to cry. But she squeezed Kellin tightly, glad to have him as her best friend. Even though she knew this would all end badly.

.&.

Jeff squeezed Danielle's hand tightly. Her eyes were closed and she was slowly counting each deep breath she took. Kellin, Erick, and Andrew were sitting in their booth across from them, not saying a word.

The door to her tour bus opened and her eyes snapped open. Danielle looked over to see Vic climbing on, a mournful look on his face. He flashed her a small smile before sitting in the booth next to Kellin. Everyone else stared at him, knowing why he was here.

"Why did Austin need you before?" She asked quietly, like her voice was tired.

Vic met her eyes. "Aaron had a really high fever. He needed a back-up."

Danielle breathed a little easier. "So, he has no idea?"

"No, but I think he should."

"Vic..."

"Why won't you tell him anything, Dani!" He shouted. She bit her lip back. "Just tell him!"

"Why do you want me to tell him so badly?"

"He deserves to know!"

"But that would mean a broken friendship with you."

"Just tell him."

"Why?"

"Because he did the same for me!" Vic shouted. Danielle blinked fast. He sighed and looked down at the floor. "There was a girl, Dani. She liked me, I liked her and Austin ended up kissing her one night, not knowing that she and I had a thing. She was a slut and it took me a while to see past that. But he came to me and told me. I forgave him, which is why I know he'll forgive me."

She stared at him with her mouth partially open. "So, I was just some sort of revenge?" Her voice got angrier.

Vic ran his hands over his face. "I knew this would happen," he muttered. "No. It's not like that at all."

"Really? Because it sure sounds like it is!" Vic didn't answer her. She was fuming mad now. "Then, tell me why you did it."

"I'm not having this conversation." Vic got up and headed for the door. Danielle sprang up from the couch and blocked his path.

"You sure as hell _are_ having this conversation right here and now. Tell me."

"No."

"Vic! Tell me!"

"It isn't rocket science, Dani!" He shouted back. "Why do people normally kiss people? I know you're smart enough to think through that."

He gently pushed her to the side and stormed out of the bus, leaving her standing there, baffled. She looked over at the rest of the guys, who were just as shocked as she was.

"Did he just say what I think he just said?" She asked quietly.

Kellin looked down at the ground. "Yeah..." he said. He looked back up at her cautiously. That look that told her people had already seemed to know about this.

Danielle suddenly ran to bathroom and threw up her empty stomach.

Vic Fuentes liked her as more than a friend and she didn't know how to exactly feel about that.

* * *

**A/n: oops. I'm sorry about all the drama. I plan to diminish all of that soon. It just has to work out this way, you'll see ~**


	24. Twenty-Four

"_Friend of mine – I've tried a revolution – everyone's screaming – 'it's not fair...'"_

Danielle sat in the back of the Kia Soul stage watching the Of Mice & Men set. She would have felt guilty if she didn't, considering she didn't talk to Austin for the rest of the night last night.

After puking her insides out, she stayed wrapped in all the blankets in the back of the bus, feeling sick for the rest of the night. Kellin had come in and laid next to her, having a short conversation with her.

"How did you not know?" He asked silently in the dark.

She shrugged. "He didn't exactly make it obvious."

"_I_ thought so. As well as everyone else..."

She sighed, placing a hand over her eyes. "How long?"

"If I tell you, do you promise not to throw up again?"

She let out a small laugh. "No promises. I think this is too much to take in."

Kellin was quiet for a moment. At first, she thought he might have fallen asleep.

But finally, he answered, "when he first met you, he told me afterward how he thought you were pretty."

Her mind flashed back to the first time he met him. They were all in the tour bus and she had just gotten off the phone with Trace after he yelled at her for having pictures with Austin all over Instagram. Vic had said himself, "you're too pretty to be dating him."

It seemed so harmless at the time. He was just trying to cheer her up. He _encouraged _her to date Austin. This all didn't make any sense to her.

"But why would he let me date Austin if he liked me?"

"Because by the time he really got to know you, it was too late. I told him from the start nothing would happen anyway, that you were head over heels in love with Austin and once you and Trace were over there would be no competition; Austin would have you as his own."

She chewed on her lip nervously. Was that all really true? Did she move into another relationship too quickly? She turned on her side to face Kellin in the dark. He stared at her with sad eyes.

"And when exactly did he start to like me?" She asked so quietly, she didn't know if even he could hear it.

Kellin shrugged. "I'm pretty sure it was that night you spilled your heart into his lap."

Danielle said nothing. When Kellin realized she wasn't about to speak again, he continued, "his whole band and I have known for a long time. We just told him to keep his distance. He never wanted to ruin the friendship between you guys. But he also doesn't want to see you get hurt, and when you accused him of not being there for you when he was doing his best, _you_ hurt him."

"I was just upset..." Danielle looked down in shame, clutching tighter to her blanket.

"Well, that's all over now." There was a long pause before Kellin spoke again. "Austin came to visit before but I told him you were sick. I really think you should talk to him tomorrow."

She groaned, feeling like she might puke again just from the thought. "I can't. He thought Vic and I had a thing when Alyssa was here because that bitch planted that image in his head."

Kellin grunted. "Dani, you're going to make it worse the longer you keep it a secret. Just look at what happened with Trace's secret against you. Don't do that to yourself again." He took her hand and squeezed it in his own. "Please."

Snapping back to reality, she watched the band finish up This One's For You. Austin smiled down at all of his fans before bringing the mic back to his lips.

"We are Of Mice & Men! Thank you so much! See you all at the signing in a few hours!"

The crowd cheered while the band walked off stage, each of their eyes lighting up when they saw Dani. Austin was the last to walk off and his eyes were the brightest of them all. His smile stretched widely across his face.

He ran toward the amp she was sitting on and presented her with a long kiss. She smiled, wrapping her arms around his neck and touching her forehead to his.

"You were great out there today," she said. "Not that you aren't always. But I don't always get to see your sets."

"Sorry I couldn't make it to yours," he said, sticking his lower lip out. "Do you feel better today? Kellin told me you were sick last night. I tried texting you but I assumed you must have passed out." Alan threw a towel at Austin and he used it to dry his face off before taking the water bottle given to him by one of his crew members.

Danielle nodded, swinging her feet nervously. "I just had a stomach bug is all." She waited, drawing patterns with her fingers on the amp. "Heard Vic had to cover for Aaron yesterday..."

Austin nodded, placing the water bottle on the ground. "Twenty-four hour thing. He's feeling better now obviously. Vic was awesome yesterday though...kind of quiet around everyone which was odd. Is everyone getting sick or something? I mean, that's normally my thing."

Danielle laughed and shrugged. "Guess life decided you needed a break."

Austin smiled. "Good because that means I get to spend more time with you." He scooped her up and quickly placed her on her feet before she could protest. "I want to do something tonight," he said cheerily, locking his fingers in hers. "After everyone's all settled for the night, want to meet me at my bus?"

She smirked. "What do you have planned?"

He winked. "Just a little surprise before we go out to eat. I think you'll like it."

Her smile weakened. A pit formed in the bottom of her stomach. Should she break the news then? Or wait until afterward? It pained her to have this wonderful thing he had planned, ruined. She just stood on her tip toes and kissed the underside of his jaw.

"Can't wait."

.&.

"What the hell were you thinking?"

Vic looked up at Kellin standing several feet in front of him and leaning against the wall.

"I swear I didn't kiss her again." Vic put his hands up in surrender.

"I told you to keep it on the D.L."

Vic rolled his eyes. "I said I was sorry. We're fine now."

"Do you realize how much Austin is going to resent you? He'll never trust you again."

"He will. You know why he will."

"She was a slut, Vic. Danielle's the girl he's in love with."

Vic met eyes with his friend. They both stared back at each other. "You know how much I care about her. I never wanted things to end up like this. I just knew if I didn't do it then, she would never know."

"She's being torn apart, Vic!" Kellin shouted. "Have you seen her lately? She's a mess! She threw up last night because of how much stress this puts her under!"

Vic lolled his head back on his couch, staring at the ceiling. "Well, what do you expect me to do?"

"I expect you to treat Danielle like you used to. Pretend it never happened. She'll play along, trust me."

Vic snorted. "Yeah. Of course she will."

.&.

"Austin, what is this?" Danielle laughed as Austin pushed her through his bus with his hands over her eyes.

When he removed his hands, a small smile spread on her face. In front of her was displayed a large board covered in several pictures; hand-drawn, photographed, or graphically designed. In the center was the line from one of her favorite songs: _this is faithfulness at its finest _writtenin a fancy script. She shook her head at that but admired each piece of artwork; all pictures of the two of them.

"Best fans in the world," he said, wrapping arms around her from behind and resting his head on top of hers. "It's too big to fit in either one of our busses without getting destroyed, but I figured you could put it in the storage under your own since it's technically yours."

"Who put all of this together?" She asked.

"Some girl from Pittsburgh, Kayla, asked a bunch of people to send in their artwork or photos and then put the whole thing together. She wanted to give it to you but you never went to your signing so she luckily found me instead."

"That's adorable," Dani said with a large grin. "I'll go put it in my bus."

"Want to grab a bite to eat?" He asked when she picked up the giant canvas of art work. She nodded happily before hurrying off the bus. "Meet you at the entrance," he called.

After carefully placing the art piece into her bus's storage car and slamming it shut, her phone vibrated. She froze, pulling it out to read the next creepy text from Trace.

_Awww, how freakin' adorable. When you gonna break his shitty heart, Dani?_

She shook her head and shoved her phone back in her pocket before storming back out into the venue. While she walked quickly, she received another text. Walking even faster, she pulled her phone out and read the message.

_Your ass looks good in those shorts. Why did you never wear them for me?_

"Shut up," she whispered, looking around anxiously. The entrance was only several feet in front of her. She could see Austin on the sidewalk. She quickened her pace. A sudden sound made her jump. She turned in the direction of the familiar whistling sound; Trace's signature whistle.

She broke into a jog and joined Austin's side, smiling up at him. He grabbed hold of her hand and they walked off together to a small diner in town, thankfully surrounded with civilization.


	25. Twenty-Five

It had almost been a week since Vic kissed her.

And she still didn't tell Austin.

Kellin, and her own band, were getting annoyed.

"I'll do it today," she promised. Kellin shot her a skeptical glance behind the Monster Energy stage. "I really will."

"Are you also going to tell him about the creepy messages from Trace?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

Her mouth dropped but she closed it quickly. "That's not important. I can handle him."

"He's stalking you, Dani. And none of us know how."

"I can handle him," she repeated.

Sleeping With Sirens went on stage and she stayed in the back, chewing her cuticles while she was leaning against an amp. She had no desire to be anywhere else right now.

But unfortunately, anxiety found her. Vic climbed behind the stage. Her eyes widened and she stared at him. He smiled, taking a seat next to her.

"Your band's been looking for you. You have a set in fifteen minutes."

"Yeah," she laughed nervously. "I'll head over in a few."

"I'd be happy to walk you."

"No." She snapped. She took a deep breath, realizing how harsh that sounded. "No. Thanks though."

As she got up and was about to make her way out, the thing she feared the most was spoken behind her.

"I know you haven't said anything yet, Dani." She turned slowly to face Vic. Every inch of his face was covered with concern. "I'm honestly trying to be your friend again, that's all. Just tell him."

She nodded, turning quickly and heading toward the Ernie Ball stage. She tried her hardest to ignore the vibration in her pocket as she strode across the venue.

"About time you got here!" Jeff said, throwing Dani her microphone. She was shocked to find Austin there, smiling at her.

"Glad to see you made it today," she said with a forceful smile.

"I had to make it up to you." He shrugged, kissing the top of her head. "Be amazing as always."

She flashed a small smile before heading out on stage.

.&.

Uncomfortableness settled everywhere she went. Kellin's words rang back in her head about the thought eating away at her like the Trace secret she had kept for so long.

She was headed across the venue to her signing booth, knowing she had to make up for not being there the past few days. She sat down next to a surprised Erick and planted a fake smile on her face while their next fan came up.

While the hour passed, unsurprisingly, Austin showed up and took his seat next to Dani. Once the crowd died down, he finally said it; the words she'd been dreading for a week.

"What's up with you?"

She looked at him, heartbreak crossing over her face. Erick nudged her, signaling for her to leave. She grabbed Austin's hand and pulled him away from the crowd and into the bus lot. She knew the conversation wasn't private to Trace at all; he was about to hear every word, but maybe that was a good thing.

She stopped in front of her own tour bus, shaking excessively. She could feel her whole body breaking out into a cold sweat. Her throat felt scratchy and dry. She didn't know if she could do it.

"Dani, what's the matter?" He asked, placing his hands on her shaking arms. "You're shaking so much..."

She stared up at him. Her mouth opened but the words didn't come out. She swallowed over the lump in her throat and tried again.

"First, I want you to know that you're amazing and I care about you and you're the only guy I've ever felt completely comfortable around..." Her voice cracked on several words but she kept her composure with slow breaths in and out.

Austin's face turned to remorse but he nodded slowly. She took another deep breath and closed her eyes, instantly knowing she was going to regret this.

"Vic kissed me."

It was quiet. She was still shaking. Austin turned unbelievably still. She opened one eye and looked up at his face. It was emotionless. It was like he turned off completely.

"Austin?"

"When?" He asked sternly.

She felt like shrinking into a ball. "Almost...a week ago."

Austin's hands dropped from her arms. He turned and headed further down the lot. She found movement in her legs and sprinted after him, turning him around.

"But it was harmless and he apologized for it. It wasn't for any revengeful purpose or anything."

"Dani..." he said softly but sternly yet again. "Let go of my arm."

Swallowing hard, she loosened her grip on his arm and he continued through the lot. She watched with wide eyes as he headed for the Pierce the Veil bus. She quickly ran after him and followed him on board.

Vic was sitting at the booth on his phone. It was almost like he prepared for this. He didn't seem surprised to see Austin. Dani stood back, unsure of what to do. Her eyes darted to Austin, standing several feet taller than Vic was right now.

"Why?" Austin's voice sounded hurt.

"I'm sorry, Austin. It was impulsive and stupid."

It was quiet. Austin was gripping the other booth's seat tightly. "If this is because of—"

"It's _nothing _like that," Vic interrupted, meeting Dani's eyes. "All three of us here know where Dani's heart truly lies. I accepted that weeks ago, Austin."

Austin stared at Vic and Vic at Austin. Danielle was afraid of what might happen if she even blinked.

"Don't...ever..._ever _do that again," Austin's voice was eerily calm. He turned away and walked past Dani and out of the bus. Vic stared at her, suddenly looking terrified.

"Thank you, Dani." he said softly. "Thank you for finally doing that."

Without saying another word to him, she turned and left herself, following Austin to his own bus. When they got inside, he went straight for the alcohol, pouring himself a shot. He gulped it down quickly and winced before turning to Dani.

"You should've told me sooner," he said, heading to the mini fridge for a Monster.

"I'm sorry..." she said timidly. Austin placed his Monster can on the counter. Instead of opening it, he clenched the edge of the counter, squeezing his eyes shut.

When he opened his eyes again, he looked at Dani. She stared up at him, her eyebrows pulled together with shame and concern. She was taken by surprise when he pulled her into a hug tighter than she's ever experienced.

"I love you, Dani," he said quietly into her hair. He sounded like he was about to cry. She hugged him back even tighter, pressing her face into his shirt. "I love you. I really, really do. I never want to hurt you the way Trace has. I never want to hurt you ever again. I love you."

She smiled. She had waited years to hear him say that. "I love you more."

He laughed lightly. "Let's not play that game," he said, resting his chin on top of her head. "But I do. I really, really do."

She smiled even wider.

* * *

**A/N: D'AWWWWSTIN. Hahahah I just totally thought of that on the spot I almost forgot about it to be honest. Anyway, don't forget to review. They make me smile :D Until the next one!**


	26. Twenty-Six

"You know what we need to have one day?" Alan said, sprawled out on the couch in the Of Mice & Men bus.

"A super ginger gathering?" Danielle asked, curled up next to Austin on the same couch with his arm around her.

Austin let out a snort.

"No...but that would be awesome, too." Alan sat up, meeting both Austin and Danielle's eyes with his own lit up like a child's on Christmas. "An after party! Like, an actual after party where we make actual food and actually have a gathering with the rest of the bands! I'm tired of pizza and diner foods, man. I want some real homestyle, barbequed burgers!"

Danielle watched him with interest. She shrugged, rather enjoying that idea. She had never really thought about it.

"We do have the day off tomorrow," Austin said. "How would we get word out though?"

"Dani, don't you send mass text messages all the time?" Alan asked.

Danielle laughed. "I don't have friends. I hardly got to know most of the bands on this tour!"

Alan grimaced before grabbing his own phone, charging next to him. "Well, fine. I guess _I'll _do it."

Dani shook her head at Alan's sass before checking her own phone. It was almost two.

"Shit." Dani sprang up from the couch. "Set time. You coming?" She asked Austin.

Austin took in a deep breath. "My set's at three again but I'll come."

Happily, Dani took his hand and they walked out of the bus together. Her eyes wandered across the lot, looking for any sign of Trace. She hadn't received any texts from him since the other night when she heard him whistling at her. She was beginning to think he had given up. But if she knew him well enough, she knew he was never the one to give up without a fight.

And as she climbed onto the back of the stage and got ready for her set, she checked her phone only to find a text from Trace.

Austin was talking to Erick about something so he was completely oblivious to what she was doing at the moment. She opened the text.

_I heard Vic arguing with someone outside his bus last night about you. Guess the boy will never get over you now, huh?_

Without even acknowledging those words so as to not show how pissed off she was, she shoved her phone back in her pocket. She then took Andrew's drumsticks from him and began tapping them on his head with a large smile on her face.

Andrew tackled her and threw her over his shoulder. She started screaming as he ran in some general direction. Before she knew it, Austin was lifting up her head and giving her a quick kiss as someone placed her mic in her hands.

"Kill it today, babe!" She heard him shout. Andrew ran in another direction that she could only guess was the stage. The shouts from the crowd proved her suspicions. Finally, Andrew placed her back on her feet and she threw a couple punches at him before turning to the crowd.

"Don't know what it is about these assholes but they love picking me up like a sack of flour." She turned toward her band. "I have feelings, guys!" She laughed before turning back to the crowd. For a moment, she thought she saw Trace's face and her smile suddenly went slack.

But when she blinked and searched the venue once more, he was nowhere to be seen. She put her smile back on and delved right into the first song.

.&.

_Meet at sws bus if you wanna grab a bite!_

A group text sent by Justin went to her and several others at the end of the day. Her stomach was tied in knots (lolirony) when she thought about how there was a very high chance Vic would be there, too. But she made her way over with her hand in Austin's and both of their band members beside and behind them.

As they climbed onto the bus, loud voices swelled through the air. When they made it into the main room, Danielle was very confused but the scene she witnessed was rather amusing.

Kellin was wearing a giant hoodie with the sleeves tied in a knot behind him. The drawstrings were pulled so tight, you couldn't see any of his facial features except his nose. He was lying on the floor helplessly thrashing around. The whole Pierce The Veil band and the rest of Sleeping With Sirens were in a fit of hysterics.

"You forgot one thing!" Austin shouted, getting down on the floor and pulling the drawstrings even tighter.

"No, Austin! Don't do it! Don't give in!" Kellin screamed, his voice muffled by the fabric over his mouth. Austin ignored him and tied the drawstrings in a double knot before patting him on the head. Kellin continued thrashing and the rest of them burst into laughter.

"Can we totally bring him out in public like this?" Dani asked.

"_Danielle!" _Kellin shouted through the fabric.

"I don't see a problem with that." Vic said. The rest of them agreed and helped Kellin to his feet, still laughing. They all guided him out of the tour bus toward the shuttle bus waiting for them not far off.

Once inside, they laid him across two chairs and all started laughing as Kellin continued to thrash around. Danielle sat in the back with Austin, and who should sit next to her but Vic. She felt a little annoyed at his presence, but Austin seemed totally laid back with him being beside her.

Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.

They all went to a Chinese restaurant and sat at a long table. Dani was excited to find out it was one of those Asian places that cooked your food in front of you.

"You've never been to one?" Austin's eyes widened in surprise. Dani shook her head, a wide smile on her face. Austin smiled and grabbed her hand, kissing it gently before whispering in her ear, "you're so adorable when you get excited."

Danielle blushed and gently pushed Austin with her free hand. She looked across the table at Vic, who was helping unravel Kellin from his sweatshirt dilemma while trying to maintain a straight face. Laughing, she used her phone to take a quick picture. He didn't even notice Danielle, it seemed.

When their food arrived, Danielle watched with amazement as the man easily threw together their food before their eyes.

"You're so fascinated!" Dani turned to see Vic, watching her with amusement. She smiled at him.

"I've never seen this before, it's so cool!"

Their food was eventually served and they all ate it hungrily, enjoying every last bite.

Danielle felt a tap on her shoulder. Still chewing her food, she turned around to see two girls standing there, smiling wide.

"You're Dani, right?" One girl asked, looking across the rest of the table with wide eyes. Dani nodded, covering her mouth while she chewed. "Can we get an autograph?"

"Absolutely!" Danielle took the girl's offered pen and printed out ticketmaster ticket. She scribbled her name down in one corner and handed it back to her.

She noticed the girls eyeing the rest of the guys at the table but Danielle put her hand up. "I wouldn't bother them while they're in their eating mode right now."

The girls saddened quickly but said goodbye to Dani and walked away. When she turned back around, half the guys at the table gave her a thankful glance.

"I love my fans, don't get me wrong," Kellin started, "but I'm like a dog when it comes to eating food. Come near me and I'll kill you."

Danielle laughed, along with some of the others around to hear Kellin's remark.

While they were leaving, Austin and Dani's hand held together tightly, more girls had suddenly come up to Austin, asking for pictures and autographs. They glanced at Danielle spitefully. She cringed and walked away, wanting nothing to do with them. She felt like all of his fans knew about hers and Vic's secretly shared kiss though she knew it was impossible.

While walking away, a voice beside her made her jump.

"Don't let the jealous fangirls get to you, Dani." Vic.

Dani let out a small laugh. "Oh, please. They're all a bunch of teenagers. I used to be one, I know what it's like to walk up to Austin and see a pretty girl at his side, knowing you'll never be his."

Vic paused. "Aren't you though?"

Dani nodded, smiling at Vic. "Yeah...but I think we both know music will always be both of our main priorities. I love music more than I've loved anyone."

"I think Austin would put you before music any day."

Dani laughed. "Not likely, Vic." She paused, walking closer to the shuttle bus they came from. "He did tell me loved me the other day though."

Vic nodded. Had she hurt his feelings?

"You're too hard on yourself, Dani. You've been with Trace so long that you think there will always be something before you."

"Vic, just think about it!" Dani turned to face him. He stared at her with a slight hint of sadness in his eyes. "If he had the chance to play in front of every single fan he has in one moment and he had to choose between that and visiting me while I'm in the hospital for going too deep again, which do you think he'd choose? The psychotic, little girl that fell too hard for him? Or the fans he loves more than anything in the world?"

"First of all," Vic began immediately after she stopped talking. "You are in no way close to being psychotic. Your scars do not define you, Danielle. Second of all, you're one of his fans. So there's no way every single fan could be there. Not without you."

Danielle leaned against the shuttle bus. The rest of them were walking back now. Austin was finally finishing up with his fans and jogging toward them.

"You must not know Austin..." Danielle said quietly.

"And you do?"

Danielle stared at him, her eyebrows furrowed. What the hell did that mean? She didn't have time to respond. Austin joined her side, folding his hand in hers.

"Ready to head back?" He smiled.

"Yeah, I'm really tired." She walked away from Vic and onto the shuttle bus. It started up quickly and they drove off back toward the venue.

Once they were back in their lot, Austin stayed behind with Danielle.

_Of course. Here we go again._

"Look, Austin, everything is fine..." she started.

He nodded, raising a skeptical eyebrow. "Will you do me a favor then?"

That confused her. "What?"

"Let me stay with you on your bus tonight."

"Why?" She let out a nervous laugh. Suddenly, Austin pulled out her phone. Her heart dropped.

"Trace happened to text you while you were talking to those two girls. You left your phone on the table, Dani."

She swallowed over the lump in her throat and looked down in shame. Of course he would find out. He always finds out.

"In fact, it seems like he's been texting you for a while now..."

"Austin, I didn't want to upset you."

"_You _upset me? Oh, no, Dani. I'm furious with this prick that keeps sending you creepy text messages. He even knew I was the one who looked at your phone. What bothers me is that you didn't tell me. Why do you keep hiding things from me?"

She looked into his eyes, narrowed in frustration. She crossed her arms and leaned against the bus, looking off into the distance as they packed away the last of the stuff for the venue.

"Shitty things happen in my life. I'm not going to attack you with every bad thing that happens to me because it's not your concern."

"Because Vic kissing my girlfriend is none of my concern."

"Austin, please."

He stayed quiet. They didn't talk for a long while. Finally, he took a deep breath.

"Dani, I want you to talk to me. I love you more than anything and it hurts me when you're hurt. I know so much drama has gone on in your life and part of you doesn't even want to be here anymore, but there's something that's keeping you holding on, right?"

She stared at Austin, tears in his eyes. Her lip quivered. "How can you love me more than anything when music is the number one thing in your life?"

He stared at her. He looked even more hurt. He put her phone back in his pocket and held her face, pressing his forehead against hers.

"I will always love my number one fan more than anyone else in this world. You will come before anyone." He said softly.

She squeezed her eyes shut and held his wrists. "Sometimes, I just feel like I don't know you. I feel like you're still hiding things from me, too."

Austin shook his head softly. "I will never hide anything from you as long as you promise to do the same. You know me, Danielle. There is nothing I'm intentionally hiding from you."

Dani pulled in a deep breath before slowly releasing it. She nodded. A single tear fell down her face. "I love you, Austin." Her voice shook. Austin quickly kissed her before pulling her into a tight hug. She wrapped her arms around his waist, softly crying into his shirt.

Of course he would put her before anything else. Why would she think otherwise? This man loved her more than anyone she's ever known. He said himself that he would do anything for her.

"So will you please let me stay with you on your bus tonight?"

Dani let out a small laugh and nodded. "Sure." She sniffled.

And together, they walked onto Dani's bus and she finally felt like a weight had lifted off her shoulders. She would find out how Trace was creepily texting her. She would learn to trust Austin to love her as much as he said he did. She would open up to Vic again.

She would change. She promised herself this. Even if things didn't work out the way she wants them to.


	27. Twenty-Seven

_Finally having our first barbeque tomorrow for Warped! Stoooooked!_

Austin pressed the 'post' button in the top right corner of his screen. His phone made a bird tweeting sound to confirm that his tweet was sent.

He looked at Dani, sitting next to him on the bus. She smiled at him, happy to finally feel at ease with all the drama that's been going on in her life lately. It seemed like things were finally getting back to normal.

Vic hopped on board, singing an inaudible song in a high exaggerated octave. He sat down beside Dani and smiled widely at her.

"Tell me you guys are just as pumped as I am."

"First barbeque on Warped ever." Dani said, smiling.

Vic raised his eyebrows. "Never got GL'ed for anything?"

Dani shook her head. "I was never special enough."

Austin wrapped his arms around her and kissed the side of her face. "The specialist of people don't even need to be GL'ed," he said. "They get in just by pure recognition."

Dani rolled her eyes. "All right, enough sweet talking me." She craned her neck back so she was only inches from his face. He kissed her quickly before getting up even quicker and grabbing her hand.

"Set's in twenty minutes, babe. Remember if you think you see Trace in the crowd..."

"Don't take my eyes off of him and snap my fingers. Austin, I know." Dani smiled sweetly, annoyed by the fact that he had taken such a cautionary hold on her. But she knew why he did it.

He smiled and pulled her to her feet, kissing the top of her head. "Coming, Vic?" He asked cheerily without waiting for his response.

All the guys said their hellos to Dani as they made it to the stage. Jeff handed her a water bottle and her mic. Hanging the chord over her shoulder, she slowly sipped the water and exercised her voice.

After several minutes passed, her eyes searched for Austin but he was nowhere to be seen. Instead she saw Vic, sitting on one of the steps scrolling through his phone.

She walked toward him and kicked his shoe, disrupting his concentration. He looked up at her and grimaced. She grimaced back.

"Where'd Austin go?" She asked.

"Had a phone call. Probably more people asking to be GL'ed tomorrow." Vic shrugged.

"You got any GL'ed girls for this barbeque?" Dani teased.

Vic laughed and shrugged. "A few. Just girls that live in the area. Most of them I've known."

"Any guys?"

Vic looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Nah, I don't invite guys to these things. Guest lists are almost always 99.9% chicks."

"Of course." Dani laughed to herself.

"Should've seen how many girls used to beg Austin to guest list them."

Dani was quiet.

"Sorry..."

"Whatever."

She caught something in the corner of her eye and looked up to see Austin, shoving his phone back in his jeans pocket. He smiled and waved at her. She smiled and waved back.

"Guest list?" Vic asked.

Austin nodded. "Lizzie, friend from around here." He grimaced, stretching his arms back and cradling his head in the palms of his hands. "She's got a thing for Alan. Always has. Used me to get his dick."

Vic laughed. "Classic GL bitches."

Andrew whistled. Dani turned toward the sound. He was motioning for her to come out on stage as he walked up himself. She looked back at the guys.

"See you after?" Dani smiled, looking up at Austin. He pulled her into a hug and gave her a quick kiss. "You gonna walk me out after, Vic?" She asked.

Vic nodded. "You know I'm always here for you."

She smiled widely at him before running out on the stage as the guys started their first song.

.&.

Across the lot, she could see Austin's band playing on the Monster Energy Stage as she finished her last song. A few seconds afterward, his first song ended. They both stared in each other's directions but Dani couldn't tell if he was looking at her. When he started talking in the microphone, her question was answered.

"And if you do a 180, folks, you will see my beautiful girlfriend and her band just about to get off the stage."

She could feel her cheeks burning as a huge smile spread across her face. "And there's my sexy boyfriend, beginning his set behind you guys now!"

Everyone turned around and cheered loudly. From all the way across the lot, she could see Austin smile and laugh.

"I love you, Dani." He said deep into the microphone. She could hear his crowd just as equally loud enough as her own.

"I love you, too, Austin!" She said more loudly into her own microphone. Half the crowd "aww'd" and her smile stretched even wider.

She could never be happier to have this moment happening in her life right now.

As she, Vic, and the rest of her band were walking across the lot, talking about how excited they were for tomorrow, someone pulled her shoulder back. She spun around and came face to face with someone whom she had never met before.

His arms were covered in tattoos; he was really skinny; slightly taller than her; had short, curly, dark hair, and caramel colored eyes. In all honesty, she found this guy really attractive.

"Hey, you're Dani Perry, right?" He asked. His voice was incredibly drawing and sexy. Dani had to picture Austin's smile just to forget how attractive she found this guy.

"Dani?" She heard Vic behind her suddenly realize she had gone missing. The rest of her band was waiting several feet ahead. "Is everything okay?" Vic sized up the guy she was talking to.

"I'll meet you at my bus." She waved him away quickly. Hesitantly, and with one last glance at the guy, Vic turned and left Dani.

"Sorry, I don't mean to be a bother..." he said.

"No, no!" Dani said with a laugh. "It's all good. I just have a lot of protective guy friends is all."

The guy smiled, exposing his imperfect, slightly crooked teeth. "Understandable." He stared at her for a few more seconds before coming back to reality. "My name's August. I'm not in any band or anything, I'm just a regular guy who comes to shows, likes to party, get drunk, you know...the whole nine yards. From what I understand, you're having a barbeque tomorrow, right?"

Dani laughed nervously. "I see where this is going. Look, August, I really don't even know _how _to guest list someone. I'm here because of another guy getting my band put on the list."

August laughed. "Yeah, I know, I've heard. Hey, I've been guest listed before and I guarantee if you ask someone, they'll tell you how to do it. I just want my buddy and myself to be able to go to a party and have a great time with some awesome dudes and ladies like yourself."

Dani blushed. "I mean, I can't promise much." She bit her lip and narrowed her eyes. "What's your friend's name?"

"Jackson Ferrelli."

"And what's your full name?"

"August Winters."

"That has to be the coolest name I've ever heard." Dani said with a laugh.

August laughed as well. "I've had people tell me that before. So, think you could get us on there?"

Dani pursed her lips and rocked her head slowly from shoulder to shoulder. "Yeah...I think I can get you on there somehow."

August smiled. "You're the best." He pulled out his phone. "Here, give me your number and I'll text you to remind you."

Dani watched him as he typed in her number and then smiled at him. "I'll be hearing from you, then!" She said, turning to walk away. "Nice to meet you!"

"No, the pleasure is all mine, Danielle. Really."

.&.

"A guy asked if he and one of his friends could be GL'ed?" Vic asked. They were all in Dani's tour bus, watching a movie on the flat screen hitched on their wall.

Dani shrugged. "How do I do that?"

"I can get them on there for you, but isn't it kind of weird that you didn't even see his friend?"

"They probably split up to look for someone. Have you ever considered that?" Dani said.

Vic shook his head. "You shouldn't agree to guest list someone you haven't seen face to face...not you personally as a girl anyway. Guys are skeez balls and will take advantage of any girl who can GL them. It's happened to Jenna before."

"I have you. I have my band. I have Austin." Dani argued. "I'll be fine, Vic."

Jeff suddenly spoke up. "Have you heard from Trace at all?"

Dani sighed. "He hasn't texted me since the other night at dinner when Austin found out he was still creepily watching and texting me but I highly doubt he's done with me."

"This guy could be a friend of his." He said.

"Trace isn't getting into the barbeque. And there's no way he knows him. We're miles away from New York."

Vic shook his head. "I'm scared for you." He grabbed her hand. "I'll put them on the list because I don't want to make you out to look like a bitch, but if I see any sketchy activity from either of them, I'm kicking them out."

"Fair enough."

Vic pointed a finger at her, close to her face. "Don't get too drunk."

Dani's eyes widened. Vic's expression didn't change. He was serious.

"And if you do get drunk enough, keep yourself and your genitals near Austin at all times."

Dani laughed. "I'm not going to get smashed."

Vic gave her a skeptical glance. "Promise me."

Dani rolled her eyes. "I promise, Vic, I won't get too drunk and sleep with some guy I barely know."

Vic put out his pinky and with a small smile, Dani hooked her own around his. She looked him in the eyes and he stared back at her, expressionless.

"I trust you," he said softly. "Please keep yourself safe."


	28. Twenty-Eight

Danielle walked hand in hand with Austin into the large, open field where the next Warped Tour would take place—but not until tomorrow. Today was the day of that large barbeque that Alan thought up himself a few weeks ago. Now it was finally here.

This would definitely be one of the best days of her life.

"So, assuming from that night you basically collapsed in my arms hammered like a nail, I guess your choice of alcohol is Pinnacle?" Austin smirked at her.

Danielle hit his bare arm and it made a piercing slapping noise. He winced slightly but still had a smile on. "Not funny," she said with a small smile. "And I'm not trying to drink that much, actually."

Austin looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "I won't do anything you wouldn't want me to do."

Danielle shook her head and looked down. "I know Trace is still around. I'm not really trying to get myself at my most vulnerable."

Austin raised Danielle's hand to his lips and tenderly kissed them. "I promised to protect you."

Dani nodded and drew back her lips. "I know. I trust you. I just don't trust myself."

It was in the middle of the afternoon and there were already so many people there. Danielle spotted Kellin and Justin, Vic and the rest of Pierce The Veil, Jenna, Ronnie, the Black Veil Brides guys, blessthefall, Bring Me The Horizon, Like Moths To Flames, letlive., We Came As Romans, Woe, Is Me, and others she hardly knew but had seen around.

Ronnie was the first to spot the pair of them. He looked over and smiled, giving them a wave. Austin waved back almost immediately but Danielle just awkwardly smiled, still not convinced that he liked her that much.

"I still don't think he likes me," she said to Austin.

Austin gave her a skeptic glance. "The guy loves you. He just has a weird way of showing it."

Danielle rolled her eyes. "He doesn't treat anyone else the way he treats me."

"Stop reading so much into it, Dani."

Austin had dragged her over to talk to guys in different bands. She never officially met letlive. but that day she did. And then, an unexpected person tapped her on the shoulder. Oli Sykes was behind her. He smiled and introduced himself.

"Sorry I never really met you until now," he said. "Not much of a partier with big groups."

Dani laughed. "Nah, it's cool, neither am I. Whenever Austin's band brings people on their bus, I'm not one to really go."

"Your band guys don't bring any girls on?" Oli raised a questioning eyebrow.

Dani rolled her eyes. "I mean, they've brought some on but they all glare at me like I'm the spawn of Satan, so I try to stay out of the way and tell the guys to give me a heads up when they're bringing a girl on board."

Oli nodded and pursed his lips. "Not bad for their first Warped Tour, huh?"

Danielle smiled. "Yeah, totally. My guys are just a bunch of hoes."

After their quite extensive conversation, he politely walked away and Danielle had officially lost Austin. More people had showed up and at this time, she noticed more girls that were dressed up were walking around.

That just made her want to find Austin even more. Instead, when a group of people had walked past her line of vision, she saw Vic and Mike standing and talking with Kellin and Gabe, each eating something off a styrofoam plate. She quickly walked over and invited herself inside their smile social circle.

"Well, heeeeey, if it isn't the badass herself!" Kellin said, stepping over to give her a hug. "Where's Austin?"

Danielle shrugged. "I lost him after talking to Oli."

"Oh, he finally introduced himself did he?" Mike asked, taking a gulp of beer. "He never really pays much attention."

"Have your two dudes showed up yet?" Vic asked. She could tell by the look on his face that he was worried.

Danielle shook her head no. "To be honest, I'm not really trying to see them."

Vic shrugged. "You know they're going to try to look for you. It's obvious the one had a thing for you."

"No way. He just flirted his way into being guest listed."

Vic laughed skeptically. "Yeah. He liked you."

About an hour or so later, Danielle had lost count of how many beers she had. When the people around her became blurry, she then realized she probably should have paced herself. The sun was setting and the smell of burgers and hot dogs filled the air.

She lost Vic, Kellin, _and_ Austin at this point, and it was beginning to freak her out. Drinking definitely didn't help her either.

"Danielle!"

Dani turned to the sound of someone calling her name. Her eyes widened when August came running toward her. She smiled and took a huge gulp of her beer, hoping it would help calm her nerves.

What great logic that was.

"Hey, August! You're here!"

August laughed. "Hell yeah, I'm here. Thanks so much for putting me and my friend on the guest list."

"Don't worry about it. It's all thanks to Vic, really. Where's your friend, uh, Jackson?"

"Oh." August turned around. "He's coming in now. Do you want to meet him?"

"Yeah, sure." Dani followed August, hardly aware of what was happening anymore.

_Shit. I really shouldn't be drinking again. I really shouldn't be walking away with some guy I hardly know to meet his friend _whom I barely know!_Where are you, Austin? _She thought in her head as they pushed past the large swarms of people.

August was talking to her but she had no idea what he was saying. She hardly realized they were leaving the huge groups of people. But then, August's screaming grabbed her attention.

"Hey! Over here!" He motioned for his friend. Danielle lifted her head. "Here he comes." August said to her.

As she looked up and squinted, his friend came into focus. He was barely even over fifty feet away from her. A small gasp escaped her throat. She turned to run but August grabbed her arm. She looked back at him, petrified.

"Whoa, what's the matter, Dani?" He asked. His innocent face turned into a smirk. "It's only Trace."

"_Get the hell off me!" _Dani bit his arm. August shrieked. She looked back at Trace's haunting face and ran as fast as she could back in the crowd. Girls grimaced as she pushed past them and spilled their beer all over their outfits. She had lost her own when August grabbed her, but she didn't care anymore.

How could Trace _be here?_

There was no one she could find. All she saw were band guys she didn't know and drunk, slutty girls all over them. She stopped for a moment, looking around. She felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. She pulled it out, hoping it was Austin calling her. But it was Trace.

With tears in her eyes, she answered but didn't say anything.

"I thought I saw Austin with some girl before," he said when she didn't say anything. "He's getting almost as drunk as you are. If not, worse."

"You and your friend need to leave before I find someone to kick your asses." She said as bravely as she could without her voice breaking.

"Who you gonna run to, Dani? I could break each of your friends' bones in a heartbeat."

"Just leave me alone, Trace!"

"Hey. I see you."

She hung up and continued walking, frantically searching for someone—anyone that would help her. Who _was _she going to run to? It's not like she could fight off Trace. It was getting too dark for anyone to see now anyway.

Someone grabbed her shoulder. She screamed and spun around, her fists ready. Vic put up his hands in surrender. His eyes were wide.

"How many have you had?"

Dani couldn't help it, she began to cry. "I don't know, like five. Where's Austin?"

"...What's wrong?"

"Vic, tell me where he is! If you want me to be safe, you need to tell me now!"

Vic's worried eyes suddenly turned to rage. He knew. He knew exactly what she was running from. Danielle's phone began ringing again. Of course, it was him. Vic attempted to take the phone from her but she spun away and answered.

"What?" She half-screamed into the receiver.

"Vic isn't much help if he's half drunk already."

"Please," she sobbed. "Just leave me alone."

"Oh, no, Danielle. We still need to have some closure if you know what I mean."

Danielle let out a loud sob and looked down, pinching the bridge of her nose. He waited unsympathetically on the other end for her to stop crying. Regaining her composure, she looked up and turned around. Vic was still standing there, his arms crossed and his eyebrows pulled together in anger. His ears looked like they were turning a deep shade of red.

"Tell me where to meet you." She said. Vic's face slacked. He shook his head violently and started toward her. She put out a finger and he stopped, his face draining of its color.

"Your bus. I'm giving you five minutes before I send August after your boyfriends."

Trace hung up. Danielle slowly took the phone away from her ear and looked into Vic's eyes. Vic shook his head and grabbed her shoulders.

"Don't you fucking dare meet that psycho!"

"I have to. This is my fault."

"No, it's _my _fault for putting them on the list for you. I shouldn't have done that. Let _me _go beat the kid up!"

She shook her head, tears brimming in her eyes again. "He wants closure. If I don't go, he's sending August after Austin. I have to go _now_."

Danielle almost immediately sprinted off. Vic grabbed her wrist and held her back, silently pleading. She pulled with all her might until he finally let go and ran through more people, her vision and mind becoming worse by the second.

But she knew without a doubt, this was the last time she would give Trace exactly what he wanted...if she even had the choice.

* * *

**A/N: OH DAMN DID YOU SEE THAT COMING. Mwahhha cliff hangers are the best xoxo bye.**


	29. Twenty-Nine

_A/N: OKAY SO WARNING. This is a highly graphic chapter, meaning it has quite a fair share of explicit content. If abuse bothers you, this may be kinda hard to read but I tried not to make it too graphic. Shouldn't be too bad honestly. This basically gives away what's about to happen if you've been paying attention but whatever, enjoy lol ok bye._

* * *

Danielle's heart was pounding in her ears. She moved easily through the crowd, excusing herself whenever she needed someone to move out of her way. Someone startlingly grabbed her wrist and forced her to turn around.

"Where the hell do you think you're going?" Ronnie asked.

"None of your business, Radke." Danielle sneered, pulling her hand back.

"I heard from an anonymous source that you're about to have 'closure' with your abusive ex-boyfriend."

Danielle rolled her eyes. "Vic," she muttered underneath her breath. "Look, _do not _tell Austin. Don't let anyone follow me. Just don't do anything this time."

"Stop trying to hide things from your boyfriend!" Ronnie said shrilly. A few people nearby turned around with unreadable expressions. Ronnie realized how loud he was and lowered his voice a tad. "He's just going to try to fuck you. Do you not realize that?"

"Ronnie, I'm _never _going to rid of him if I don't do this." Her voice broke when she spoke. "This might be the last time I ever see any of you guys again for all I know."

"Don't say that." Ronnie actually sounded hurt. "Don't you dare say that, Dani."

Danielle didn't know what else to say. She turned around and continued heading toward her bus. Ronnie grabbed her again and turned her back around.

"I don't have time to argue!" She said, stomping one foot on the ground. "I don't have a choice! Austin is going to get his ass handed to him if I don't leave _now!_"

"No one's ass is being handed to anyone except Trace's. If you leave now, I _will_ tell Austin."

"You know what? Fine. Because I'll probably be gone before you can even get to me." Dani stormed away.

"Don't you remember how quick he was last time?" Ronnie called behind her. "Just because he's drinking doesn't make a difference."

She ignored him. She broke out into a run, unsure of how much time she had left to meet Trace. The sun was almost completely sunk behind the horizon. She was scared, she admitted. She was very, very scared.

When she was only a few feet away from her bus, she stopped running to catch her breath. She saw a figure get up from leaning against the bus and watch her as she came closer. Soon enough, she was face to face with Trace. She never thought she would ever be in the position again.

"Okay," Dani said timidly. "Start talking."

Trace kept staring at her. Dani was about to say something else when he took her bu sudden surprise. He pressed his lips onto hers and pushed her against the side of her bus, pulling her hips into his.

With all the might she could muster up, she pushed him off. "What the hell is your problem!" She screamed.

He slid a small smile on his face. "I've waited so long to taste your lips again..." he slowly closed the small space between them again. He touched her chin and rested his forehead on hers. "You know what else I've been waiting to taste?"

She pushed him away again—harder this time—and scoffed. "You're revolting." She grimaced. "I didn't come here to be sexually harassed by you. I came here because you wanted closure."

Trace shoved his hands in his jeans' pockets and shrugged. "Let's go on your bus."

"Fine." Dani pulled out the key (she learned from last time) and unlocked the door. She waited for Trace to climb on before she closed the door and locked it. She knew who would be coming soon...

She joined Trace on the couch. He looked around her bus, taking in its surroundings as she took in his appearance. He looked like he hadn't slept in days. He even looked skinnier than normal...that wasn't like him.

"Nice bus." He commented.

"Answer me something, Trace," Danielle said flatly. Trace looked at her. "How the hell have you been watching me? How are you _here_?"

Trace smirked. "You know there were two venues in New York."

"Yeah, and?"

"So, obviously I jumped on board one of the busses."

She narrowed her eyes. "Which one?"

"Chiodos. Craig Owens hates your guts."

"That's great. I don't even know him and I've heard he's a creep anyway. What about your friend, August? Or whatever his name really is."

Trace laughed. "He came along with me. It took us a while to formulate this whole plan. I'm surprised you never even found me."

"So hilarious, I can hardly contain myself." She said emphatically.

Trace just stared at her. "So, how's the sex life with Austin? You've slept in his bus plenty of times now."

"That's none of your business."

"You know you miss me." Trace slowly crept his hand up her thigh. "If you come back and be with me, I promise not to hurt Austin."

Danielle's eyebrows pulled together. "You said if I met you here within a certain time limit, you wouldn't touch him."

Trace shrugged. "I lied."

Danielle shot up from the couch and headed for the door. Trace pulled her back. She started screaming but he covered her mouth and turned her back around to face him. She hardly even moved. Her breathing became fast.

"I have truly missed this." Trace smiled cynically. Danielle began to fight against his grip. She wished more than anything that she had listened to Ronnie. "I know how you are when you're drunk, Dani. All it takes is a few more things from me before I have your clothes all over the floor."

Danielle's sobs were muffled against Trace's large hand. He removed it from her face and her sobs were loud within the enclosed bus. She began fighting against him again but he kept a hold of her, laughing each time she struggled.

"Trace, please...just accept the fact that it's over. Don't you see what you're doing to me?! There's something wrong with you!"

"I've got Craig on speed dial, babe." Trace's face turned horrifyingly serious. "Just one phone call to drag Austin away from the crowd and a few punches from him and my buddy to beat him into the ground...unless you do as I say."

Danielle closed her eyes. Tears fell down her face and she let out another sob. She rested her head on his shoulder and started punching him again. "You're crazy!" She screamed as loud as she could before sobbing uncontrollably again.

Trace lifted her chin so she was looking up at him. His face was spinning. He came closer and closer, and soon enough he was kissing her. Gently at first. She gave in and kissed him back, her hands closed around the back of his neck as she pulled him closer. When his kisses became harder and more passionate, she finally was able to push herself away.

"No!" She massaged her temples looking away from him. "Get off my bus!"

And then, she was knocked off her feet. She looked up at him from the floor as he towered over her. He bent down and started screaming at her, "you're a little bitch! Do you _want _Austin to get hurt?!"

"Stop!" She cried through her tears. "Please..."

He slapped her and she grabbed the side of her face, curling into a ball on the floor. Trace walked away. She didn't know where he went. And suddenly, he was dragging her by her feet. She started screaming and attempted to kick him in the face or grab onto something to stop him from dragging her but he dodged her small feet and there was nothing to grab onto besides the hardwood floor.

She jumped when she heard loud banging on the door. Trace stopped. Danielle looked up at the door.

"Trace, if you don't fucking open this door, so help me." Danielle's heart lifted when she heard Austin's voice on the other side of the door.

"Don't say a word..." Trace said ominously behind her.

She didn't care. She felt the safest around Austin. She filled her lungs with air before shouting, "Austin! I'm in here! Trace is—"

Trace had covered her mouth and picked her up, throwing her into the middle of her bunking hall. She landed with a thud. More banging was heard on the door.

Trace smirked and looked down at her. He grabbed at the hem of her denim shorts. She started screaming and kicking as her shorts were pulled lower and lower and she could hear the sound of them ripping.

She heard the door swing open and hit the bus's outer wall. Trace turned around quickly. Danielle saw Austin, Ronnie, Vic, her band, and Kellin crowd inside.

Austin made a beeline for Trace. Suddenly, someone else was pushing through the rest of the guys that crowded in the small entrance way. Craig and August.

"Austin!" Dani screamed.

The rest of Danielle's band tackled Craig and August just as they grabbed a hold of Austin. They struggled to bring them both outside. When Trace attempted to take a swing at Austin, he picked him up by the collar of his shirt and threw him into the main part of the bus, knocking over a few of the bottles on their small counter and breaking them. Dani watched as Austin stormed toward him.

"I will rip out one part of you for _every _mark you left on her!" Austin picked him up again and held him up high. "What logic made you think you should ever come within a hundred miles of me?"

Trace was pissed off. "You shouldn't have her. You've fucked so many girls on the road in your lifetime and cheated on your ex wife! At least I was_faithful!_"

Austin pushed him against the window. "I can't believe I'm actually doing this to you _again, _jackass. You don't know shit about me and believe me, I_can_ kill you. I would kill you and go to jail as long as it meant that Danielle never had to worry about you _ever again."_

Trace smiled. "Then, do it."

Austin threw him to the ground again and pulled his shirt into his fist. With his other hand, he clenched another fist tightly and quickly punched Trace in the nose. Ronnie and Vic reacted and pulled Austin away. Austin was breathing heavily with rage. Veins were popping out of his neck and his forehead. His whole face had turned completely red.

Trace laughed, his nose beginning to bleed profusely. "I knew you were too much of a pussy."

As Austin tried to go at him again, Ronnie and Vic pulled him back. "Austin," Ronnie started, looking at Danielle. "Take Danielle away from here. We'll get rid of this loser."

Danielle met eyes with Ronnie. He gave her one sympathetic nod before letting go of Austin. Vic did the same. Austin watched Trace until he got to Danielle. His whole face changed from unearthly rage to overly worried sweetheart in less than a second. He scooped up Danielle easily in his arms and she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"I got you," he said silently, beginning to walk out of her bus. "I'm so sorry, baby."

Dani pulled her arms tighter around his neck and buried her face in its crook. "It's not your fault."

She peeked through at Trace on the ground, who watched her with pure jealousy and anger. She shook and closed her eyes, burying her face back in Austin's neck and squeezing her eyes shut. Austin stopped.

"I am going to get your ass thrown in jail for the things you've done," he said to Trace. "I'll make sure you stay there for as long as your sentence should be."

Trace laughed. "I still got to kiss your girl so it's not a total loss."

Without another word, Austin breathed in sharply and walked out of the bus. She heard Andrew and Erick's voice. They were talking to Austin and asking if she was okay. Austin didn't respond and kept walking. Was he mad at her for kissing Trace? Was he just too heated to say anything to anyone right now?

She felt him walking up more steps, which probably meant she was in another tour bus, most likely his. The door closed and there was silence that followed. Only a few more steps followed before she was laid on a couch. She knew this couch. She opened her eyes and saw that she was inches away from Austin's face. He looked like a sad puppy dog.

"What did he do to you?" His eyes filled with tears.

With tears filling her own, she sat up and explained everything to him. He listened with genuine concern in his eyes. By the end, she was crying hysterically. She wrapped her arms around Austin and brought him closer. He gently squeezed her back and let her cry on his shoulder.

When her sobs subsided, Austin broke away and looked in her eyes. He used his thumb to wipe her eyes and gently placed a hand on the cheek that Trace had brutally slapped. She put her own hand on top of his and breathed deeply in and out.

"Austin...you don't have to put up with me." She said, sniffling.

"What do you mean?" He asked, his eyebrows pulling together. "Danielle, if I didn't care, I wouldn't have come for you. I would've been there sooner if Ronnie found me faster. Just because I'm drinking doesn't make me forget about you. Knowing you were drunk and with Trace was all the more _reason _for me to come running."

Danielle smiled and shook her head. "I would never with him. Never, ever again. No matter how drunk I was."

"I'm happy to hear that," he said quietly. Then, he pressed his forehead to hers. "I'm not happy to hear that he kissed you."

Danielle groaned. "Don't remind me."

"I can make that picture go away." Austin said in a hushed voice. He leaned in and kissed her. "Better?"

She nodded, smiling. She ran both of her fingers through the back of his hair. "I love you." She kissed him again quickly before wrapping her arms around him. "I love you so much."

Austin kissed the hollow of her neck gently. "I love you, too."

She held his face and smiled at him. He smiled back. Both of their lips met and Danielle's head was suddenly spinning. His tongue entered her mouth and she invited him, holding onto the back of his head. His hands traveled to her waist, pulling her closer. Soon enough, he was on top of her and her own hands were wandering down his body.

For the first time, images of Trace didn't flash in her mind as he aggressively pulled her shirt off. For the first time, images of Trace's body didn't flood her vision as she took in Austin's completely tatted torso. For the first time, she was able to share her love for Austin without having a panic attack and shutting him out.

For the first time, she had someone who loved her _making_ love to her. And she couldn't be happier.

* * *

**A/N: OW OW. I enjoyed this chapter a lot. Anyway, I don't think there'll be many chapters left :( There's not much else to write about now that the whole main plot is completely over. I thought about writing a sequel BUT IM KINNNDAAAA BAD WITH KEEPING UP WITH SEQUELS LOL. Well, I hope this wasn't too graphic because you kno. Yeah. Love you guys, until the next one! Xo**


	30. Thirty

"I can't believe it's almost over..." Danielle said quietly. She had herself wrapped around Austin in her tour bus. His and her band were all sitting together watching a movie.

There were only three more dates of Warped Tour left, including this day. Danielle honestly couldn't believe how fast it had gone by.

"Yeah, it's pretty depressing at first," Tino said, taking a sip of his water. He shrugged. "Then you just kinda get over it and move on with your life."

"This means I have to go back to work." Danielle groaned, letting her head fall back on the couch. "Taking people's pizza orders is really not even _half _as exciting."

Austin laughed. "I'm sure all the boys go crazy after they answer the door and see a young girl standing there holding their pizza. It's like the beginning of a porn or something."

Danielle slapped his chest and looked up at him with a grimace. He winced and started chuckling. "You're hilarious, Carlile." Austin stuck his tongue out at her. "And apparently five years old..." She smiled and gave him a kiss. She knew if she were to miss anyone, it was going to be him. They would be across the country from each other. She wasn't sure how well she would handle that.

As much as she wanted to talk to him about the situation, she knew now was not the right time. At some point though, she knew they would have to face the reality that they wouldn't be together...and they didn't know for how long.

The movie ended and Danielle got up from the couch, pulling her dark hair out of its bun and letting her loose waves fall over her shoulder. She looked up at her band who was getting ready as well.

"Set time." She smiled, grabbing a water bottle and following her band outside. Of Mice & Men followed behind, Austin obviously catching up with Danielle.

Danielle exercised her voice behind the stage, waiting for iwrestledabearonce to come off. Andrew beat his drums on the amp he sat on, Erick was staring off into the distance and playing something no one could really hear on his guitar, and Jeff was just plucking at his bass strings mindlessly, not really playing anything.

When iwrestledabearonce got off stage and they all exchanged small conversation, Danielle and her band got ready to go on. The guys went on first, getting the crowd all riled up first. Austin walked Danielle to the entrance as always and they both looked at each other with a small evident small on one another's faces.

Danielle stood on her tip toes and Austin leaned down to give her a kiss. They both smiled as Danielle wrapped her mic's chord around her fingers.

"One of the last; make it one of the best," Austin said, backing away from the entrance. Danielle nodded and headed out on stage, taking in the crowd's loud screaming.

"Holy shiiiiiit, Texas. Last time I was here, the crowd did a lot better screaming than that." She got the response she wanted, they screamed louder and she smiled. "Nice job. So, you guys are one of the lucky last ones that get to hear all of these bands put their all into the last few days of Warped. This was our first year playing at Warped as a band and it was definitely one of the craziest. I sure hope next year, we can come back and play new songs for all of you again."

"We all know the only reason she loved it was because of Carlile, come on." Erick said into his mic. The crowd cheered. Danielle glared at him and he smirked ruthlessly. Behind him, she saw Austin using his hand to cover a huge smile on his face; he was laughing hard again.

"All right, all right. Enough with the mushy stuff. You guys ready to hear some songs!" The band started playing and Danielle got into her game, really enjoying one of these last days on this stage.

.&.

"Hey, I remember you from Dallas, come here!" Danielle pulled a young boy into a hug. He laughed nervously in her ear, hugging back.

"Your voice is beautiful, Dani. I love listening to your EP. It really helps me study and get through the day. I know what I'll be listening to next year for school when studying for all my classes." He said, blushing.

Dani placed a hand over her heart. "Seriously, that's so sweet, dude. Thank you so much."

"Thank _you_, Dani." He gave one last smile before walking away.

Dani turned to the rest of her band. "You guys! That was so cute!"

"Come on, he's like twelve. That's statutory rape." Jeff said with a serious expression. He dodged Dani's punch and that's when a smile crept on his face. "Kidding..."

"Oh, you're so funny." Dani mocked. She looked up and saw a familiar face come toward her. A face she'd hardly seen by herself in a long time.

"I don't mean to pry you away from here right now," Vic said right next to her so no one else heard. "But can I please talk to you for just a few minutes?"

Dani nodded. She thought nothing of it. She grabbed his hand and he hurried her out of her signing tent and across the venue. He brought her into the bus lot and stopped between his bus and Memphis May Fire's.

"What's up?" She asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

Vic folded his hands in front of him. "What I'm about to say is going to turn you off at first, but just hear me out...okay?"

She narrowed her eyes in confusion. "Okay..."

He took a deep breath before starting. "Now, obviously you know I've liked you for a long time." As expected, she rolled her eyes. "Just listen, Dani...and even though we haven't talked about it, I just want you to know I never stopped liking you. No matter how hard I tried, I never stopped. I told Ronnie that you went to talk to Trace because I cared about you. And aren't you glad I did? I don't want to imagine what would've happened if I listened to you.

"And maybe we just met at the wrong time. Maybe I was meant to fall for you but you didn't fall in love with me yet. And I'm not saying you're ever going to, it's just a hunch I've had. I know we've never talked about this which is why I am now. Dani, I've liked you ever since the moment I saw you. Things may never happen between us and I'm okay with that. I just want you to know that I will always care, but I'm learning to move on from you. I don't want this to stand in the way of our friendship. I just needed to tell you how I feel."

Dani stared at him with a small smile on her face. Without any words, she wrapped her arms around Vic's waist and hugged him. He hugged her back wordlessly, except for a small, grateful sigh.

.&.

_With my main girl. Love ya, pretty lady._

Austin and Danielle had taken an Instagram picture together at dinner that night. It had been a while since they did that. It had been a while since they were able to eat together – alone.

"So, how 'bout them there pasta you got?" Austin asked in a weird accent. Dani stared at him and laughed.

"Pretty darn-tootin' good." She smiled. "How's your food?"

He took another bite and nodded with a big smile. "Great."

She laughed, stirring around the Penne Vodka on her giant plate. So many thoughts were running through her mind. The end of Warped Tour. Hers and Vic's conversation. And the most important...

"Are you going back to New York?" Austin asked. She looked up at him.

She shrugged. "I mean, where else am I gonna go?"

Austin nodded and pursed his lips, looking down at his food. "Why don't you and the guys move to California?"

Danielle smiled. "I can't afford anywhere in Los Angeles."

Austin nodded again, slowly. "Well...you could always just..."

"Just what?"

Austin met her eyes. "Live with me."

Danielle put down her fork and leaned back in her seat, looking at Austin. "Do you think that's really a good idea?"

Austin shrugged. "Why not? I'll come with you to New York, stay a night or two and then we'll fly out to Cali."

Dani looked away from him nervously. It's not that she didn't want to live with him. She was very flattered that he actually asked her to. He mentioned this a while ago, but she never really got around to thinking about it until now.

"I don't know if I can leave the guys." She said.

"I'm sure they can handle themselves on their own. They're grown ups, you know."

Dani pursed her lips. And what if things got bad? What if they broke up? What was she supposed to do? Move all the way back to New York? Was it really that easy? She had confidence enough to believe they wouldn't break up—she was just trying to decide which would be worse. Staying far away from him and never seeing him, decreasing the chances of fighting or living with him and possibly losing him then having to leave him.

What was she thinking? She couldn't think about things like that. As she looked at the puppy dog faced Austin Carlile, she couldn't help but smile. She loved him. She was in love with him. Of course she wanted to wake up every morning and see that peaceful face he has when he sleeps.

"You've talked me into it." She said.

Austin got up and pulled her out of the booth, picking her up in a hug. She squealed as she normally does when she's picked up but when he put her back down on the ground, he kissed her before she had any time to protest. And by that point, she forgot what she was even going to say.

**A/N: Can't stop me~ Yes, the story is almost coming to a close soon. I hope you guys like the ending I picked out because I think I'm gonna set it up for a sequel. And hopefully actually stick to it. Until the next one! xo**

"You guys are like _goddamn children!_" Dani threw a pillow out the door of the back room of their tour bus then leapt to her feet to chase Jeff and Erick out into the main room. They laughed the entire way out the door. That didn't stop Dani.

As she followed them when they turned down a whole row of busses, she almost ran smack into one of the doors. She gasped, putting her hands out to brace herself. Her hands hit the door and she backed up. Kellin suddenly peered around the door, a puzzled expression on his face. He looked in Jeff and Erick's direction then back at Dani, a small smile growing on his face.

"What the hell are you guys doing?" He asked with a laugh, coming out of his bus and closing the door behind him.

Dani rolled her eyes, catching her breath. "They were spying on Austin and me in our back room."

Kellin snorted. "If I didn't know you, I would swear they were your brothers."

Dani's eyes widened. "You know, they might as well be!"

"So you just left your poor boyfriend by himself?" Kellin pointed his head in her bus's direction.

Dani shrugged. "He'll be fine. I lost those two anyway so I'll just head back."

Kellin nodded. They were awkwardly quiet for a moment or two before he asked, "did you guys come up with an arrangement for your relationship?"

Dani smiled. "I'm moving to California with him."

Kellin put on a huge smile and spun her around in an ever bigger hug. "That's awesome! I'm so excited! Are the guys going too?"

Dani nodded. "They're getting apartments together."

"That is so rad." Kellin laughed. "You better hit me up while you're there, missy. Or else we'll never talk again."

Danielle stuck her tongue out. "I don't have many friends anyway, Kel."

Kellin shrugged. "If you're gonna be in Cali with Austin, you'll make _tons _of friends very quickly."

"Whatever you say." Just then, she heard Jeff and Erick's loud voices not too far off. "I hear my little brats, so I'll be going now."

Kellin smiled. "Might not see you at the airport in time." He opened his arms and Danielle went in to hug him. He kissed the top of her head and hugged her tightly.

"Thank you for everything you've done for me, Kellin. You have no idea how lucky I am to have you as my best friend."

.&.

Danielle's band, Austin's band, Falling In Reverse, and Pierce The Veil all made it to the airport around the same time. The only ones going to a different destination were Danielle's band and Austin...it made Danielle feel bad that she was prying her boyfriend away from his band, the thing he loved the most. But he insisted it was fine, that he wanted to spend time with her and he could see his band in a few days.

They were each headed in the same direction. As Austin was hanging near his band, Danielle lingered behind with hers. She didn't say much though. To be honest, she was still wondering if this was a good idea.

"Don't think about it too much." A voice next to her said. She looked over at Vic. He looked back down at her and smiled. "I know you're wondering if this is a bad idea and I'm telling you, the more you think about it, the more upset you'll be. You're not leaving much in New York. Your band is coming with you."

Dani half shrugged, half nodded. "I know. I just don't want to feel like this is a mistake six months, or a whole year down the road."

Vic let out a small laugh. "I promise you'll be fine."

Dani smiled at him. She loved Vic so much. Even through everything these past few months, he was still her best friend and she couldn't thank him enough. He really cared about her.

As they were about to go their separate ways and say goodbye, someone pulled Dani aside. Ronnie. He looked up at everyone else before meeting her eyes.

"What's up?" She asked, slightly scared as to why he was pulling her aside to talk to her.

"I was a major dick to you." The corner of Ronnie's mouth went up slightly. "And I know you think I hate you but I don't. I wouldn't have saved your ass twice if I didn't. I'm sorry I never really got to know you these past few months and basically just called you off as a total bitch. I really should have looked past all the bullshit first."

Dani smiled. "Don't sweat it, Ronnie. I think you're great and you have no idea how thankful I am that you were around both times to help me with Trace. I wouldn't be where I am now if it weren't for you."

Ronnie put on a tight smile before quickly frowning again. "Look, there's something I need to tell you, too." Ronnie leaned down and whispered in her ear. Her eyes widened. She looked at Ronnie and he nodded, pursing his lips.

"Thanks for telling me." She said.

They both said goodbye and walked off. Austin watched her with a curious eye. When she got to him, she slipped her hand in his and they continued walking toward the terminal.

On the plane, as Austin sat beside Dani, he finally asked what was wrong. She painfully explained what Ronnie said. Austin stared at the seat in front of him in disbelief. Dani grabbed his hand and smiled at him to reassure him that everything would be fine. Nothing would get between them again.

.&.

Danielle threw all her bags down as soon as she stepped foot in her cozy Manhattan apartment. She hurried straight toward her room and jumped on her untouched still freshly made bed and sank into the giant, white comforter.

"God, I've missed this bed." She said, her face muffled into the blanket. Two hands sunk into the bed on either side of her and a kiss was planted on the back of her head.

She turned herself around so she was looking up at a smirking Austin and smirked back. She hooked her hands behind his neck and met him halfway with their lips locked. Then, he fell beside her and closed his eyes, enjoying her comfortable bed as well.

Danielle turned on her side to look at his smiling, peaceful face. He opened his eyes and looked at her, mimicking her stance.

"You're so beautiful, Dani." He said quietly, grabbing her hand. She blushed and wrapped herself around him, letting the sound of his heartbeat put her to sleep.

.&.

Hand in hand with Austin, Dani followed the security guard in front of her down a long white hallway. At the end was a door with _Visitor Center _written on the wired glass. The guard pulled out a keycard and swiped it through the lock. A loud, long beep echoed through the hall and the door opened. The guard held it open for Dani and Austin. They walked through soundlessly and the door closed behind them.

Dani watched through each of the glasses to see if she could see him anywhere. And then, through a door similar to the one they both came through, there he was in bright orange attire with a guard standing right behind him. He watched Dani with animosity as he passed each window.

"Are you sure you wanna talk to him?" Austin leaned down and asked. Danielle swallowed over the lump in her throat and nodded. He hesitantly let go of her hand and she joined Trace at the window he sat at.

He stared at her with a vacant expression and they both reached for the phone at the same time. She stared at him, still unsure of what to say. And finally, he spoke.

"Brought your boyfriend along? Not like I can do anything. You've got nothing to be scared of."

Dani nodded. She tried to calm her shaking voice. "I know. I'm not scared." Trace raised a skeptical eyebrow but she didn't look away. She refused to show her fear. "You know you deserve to be here."

Trace shrugged. "I personally don't see why I should be but hey, to each his own."

"You could have seriously hurt me, Trace." Now, her shaking voice was replaced with anger. "You practically raped me."

Trace smiled. "You know you loved our sex. It was hot and sexy, and once you got into it, you were like a submissive whore."

"Shut up. I had no choice. You _blackmailed _me."

"And whose fault is that?" He laughed. "Your little boyfriend tried to act like he was so respectable when he found those pictures on his tour bus door but I guarantee he looked at it."

"No, he didn't."

"How do you know for sure?"

"I trust him."

Trace rolled his eyes and sat back. "You're too blind, Dani. He's only dating you because you've got that innocent looking face. They're the freaks behind it all, right?" He laughed.

"You're disgusting." She grimaced. "And I hope you rot in here until you finally realize what you did was wrong."

Trace sat close to the window. Dani backed away slightly. He was staring at her with pure hatred again.

"I will get out of here, Danielle." His voice was eerily deep. "Sooner than you think. And when I do, you better pray I don't run into you, or Carlile, or any of your friends. Because I will make them part of the earth if I do. And if I see _you,_" he smirked. "You're mine. And no one is going to save you then."

Danielle stared at him, tears begging to fall from her eyes. She didn't want to say anymore. She hung up the phone, gave him one last cold look and got up from her chair. Trace watched her walk away.

Austin draped an arm over her shoulders and looked back as they headed for the exit. Trace was smiling at him, and it was one of the creepiest smiles he'd ever seen on someone's face ever.


	31. Thirty-One

Danielle anxiously looked out the window of the plane as it slowly descended toward LAX airport. She hugged her small backpack close to her chest as she surveyed the palm trees and visible beaches from way up in the sky. She felt Austin's warm hand on her bare knee and she turned to look at him, giving him a small smile. She grabbed his hand and squeezed it gently in her own.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

She nodded. "This is just very different for me, I never expected this at all."

Austin kissed the side of her face. "You'll love it here, I promise."

Once they finally got off the plane and went through baggage claim to get their suitcases, it was no surprise when a few girls nearby screamed out Austin's name. He turned, waved, and smiled at the group before catching back up with Danielle.

"Wow, you even have stalker fans at the airport." She smirked.

He threw his arm over her shoulders and pulled her in to kiss the top of her head. "There's been more before, trust me. I don't mind it though. I love my fans to death."

Danielle laughed. "It's cute."

They took a private cab back to Austin's place. On the way there, Dani stared out the window, watching the different people walking by on the streets. It seemed so different from New York. There were tiny, bleach blonde girls in crop tops and high waisted shorts, tall guys that looked way too hipster to even be here, and several other randoms.

"You know, I kinda wanna dye my hair blonde." She said, turning to Austin.

Austin's eyes widened as he looked at her. "What?" He laughed somewhat nervously. "Why?"

She shrugged, smiling. "I could use a change for once."

Austin scrunched up his nose. "I don't really have much of a preference for blondes."

She raised an eyebrow and put on a small smirk, an image of a blonde Gielle in her head. "Guess I shouldn't have come here then."

Austin shook his head, rolled his eyes, and pulled her toward him. "You can do whatever you want, I'm just saying I don't know if it would look good on you."

"Well I was born a blonde." She laughed. "But I won't do it. It takes too much work."

"Good." He kissed her head. "I like you with dark hair anyway."

Danielle was awestruck when she grabbed her bags out of the car and looked up at Austin's beautiful, large house on the beach in Orange. Austin paid the cab driver, said his thanks, then grabbed his bags and motioned for Danielle to follow him inside.

She gulped over the lump in her throat and followed him inside, even more awestruck by the interior. Austin walked in a different direction but Danielle felt paralyzed. She heard him throw down all his bags and walk around in a different room, but she just couldn't find feeling in her legs.

"Dani?" He called. She finally broke out of her trance and looked toward the sound of his voice. He walked out into the main room again, smiling at her. "I can put your bags down for you if you want. We don't have to unpack until later."

"Oh..." Dani followed Austin and he grabbed all her bags and put them down in an extra bedroom that had only one bed and a dresser inside. Austin grabbed Dani's hand, a smile still on his face. "What are you smiling at?" She asked, laughing.

He wordlessly dragged her down the hall and turned the corner. She suddenly felt a large grin on her face as a bunch of familiar faces screamed, "_Surprise!"_

Kellin was the first one to come forward and give her the biggest hug ever. She still felt stunned but she hugged him back anyway, laughing her nerves off.

"Oh my god, what? How did you do this? Why are you doing this?" Danielle asked, turning simultaneously back from Austin to Kellin.

Kellin just looked at Austin and Dani looked at him too. Austin shrugged, taking Dani away from Kellin and holding her hands. "I just wanted to make you feel comfortable here because I know this is a huge change, so we all decided to throw you a small 'Welcome to California' party." He smiled.

Dani smiled and shook her head, standing on her toes to give him a small kiss. "You're the best boyfriend in the world, you know that?"

Austin laughed and shrugged his shoulders. "Only for you." He kissed her again. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

"All right, all right," a familiar voice said. Dani looked up to find Andrew breaking through the front of the crowd. "Enough with the lovey dovey shit, can we party now?"

Dani laughed, shaking her head. "Nice to see you, too, asshole."

Andrew smirked, opening his arms. "Come here, babygirl." Danielle ran at Andrew, ready to throw her arms around him when the rest of her band came out and all joined in on the hug. She screamed when they charged toward her, encircling her.

"I love you guys more than life." Dani laughed, clutching onto Andrew.

.&.

Within an hour or so, the party had started and Dani found herself sitting by the edge of Austin's pool, drinking a cup half filled with beer. She told herself she wouldn't get too crazy tonight. Not after what happened the last two times.

"Hey, stranger," Vic said, tapping her on the shoulder. He joined her at the edge of the pool, sticking his feet in. "How come you aren't hanging with the rest of us?"

Dani laughed and shrugged. "I have been. You haven't even said hi to me yet."

Vic shrugged. "Don't want to get Austin upset, we've been through this."

Dani shook her head and looked away. She hated talking about that whole situation with Vic. It made her uncomfortable.

"How do you really feel about being here?" He asked.

"I feel good." She smiled, meeting his eyes. "It feels good to get out of New York. I was so done with trying to live there and pretend I was fine living alone with the occasional days of Trace coming over only to result in a fight between us. Thank God I never asked him to move in, I was smarter than that."

"California is a lot different than New York but I know you'll get used to it." Vic said, tapping her knee. "Austin's going to make you feel comfortable in no time, I know that for sure."

Dani smiled. "I'm always comfortable whenever I'm with him."

Vic forced a smile back. "Exactly. You have nothing to worry about."

A few minutes later, Dani and Vic both got up to walk around. She said hi to Jenna and her band, as well as Oli whom she last met at the barbeque on Warped for only a few minutes. And then, someone came up behind her and picked her up. She started screaming so they put her down and she turned around to find Justin Hills, smiling like an idiot. She hit his arm.

"You know I hate that!" She said.

Justin was still smiling and laughing. "I haven't seen you in forever! Give me a hug!" He opened his arms wide and she took the invitation, giving him a tight squeeze. "Heard about Trace."

"Yeah, let's not talk about him." She laughed nervously. "Actually, have you seen Ronnie?"

Justin shook his head. "He's around somewhere though."

Danielle excused herself to search around the party for Ronnie. There seemed to be so many more people than when she first got here. Maybe there was, who knew? And then she saw him standing there talking with Austin. Of course.

She walked over and Austin gave her a big smile. She smiled back and looked at Ronnie, who said hi and gave her an awkward, one-armed hug.

"Can I talk to you?" She asked him, looking at Austin.

"I can't be here?" Austin asked. Danielle shook her head with a sad apologetic look.

"Whatever you say." He said in annoyance. He got up and walked away and immediately made Danielle feel bad, but she knew she had to talk with Ronnie alone.

"Did you see him?" Ronnie asked.

She nodded. "Austin came with me."

Ronnie snorted. "What'd the poor bastard say to you?"

"He was just being Trace. He told me when he got out of there that if he ever saw any of my friends, he would kill them. And then he said if he saw me, 'I would be his and no one would be there to save me this time.'" She said in air quotes.

"He really is a piece of shit." Ronnie said. "He's not gonna ever get to you or any of _us _for that matter. I'd have him locked up before he even got within a thousand feet of me."

Dani smiled. "How'd you know?"

"Because Craig Owens told me. Make sure you never talk to that asshole either. He's crazy." Ronnie shook his head.

"I don't know how to repay you for everything you've done for me, Ronnie."

"You don't." He said. "I was a jerk to you all summer. I needed to repay you for all the things I've said to you. I'm still really sorry."

Dani smiled. "Don't worry about." She put out a fist. "Best buds?"

Ronnie put on a small smile and bumped her fist with his own. "Best buds."

After that whole conversation was over, she decided to find Austin and apologize. She walked around for what felt like an hour, but was only a few minutes, before she started asking. She finally got a hold of Vic and turned him around. He looked completely wasted.

"Where's Austin?" She asked.

Vic shrugged. "I haven't seen him since he went inside."

She rolled her eyes, walking toward the house. She heard Vic calling her but she didn't turn around. She got inside the house, moving through more people before she got to the long staircase. She made her way up, realizing she must have had more to drink than she realized because the stairs almost looked like they were moving.

At the top of the stairs, she looked down a short hallway with several doors. She checked in each one before she opened a double door at the end of the hall. A large white bed was in the middle of the room against the wall, decorated with several portraits of Austin or Of Mice & Men on the walls. She walked in, admiring the entire room. She found another door and opened that one, revealing the biggest walk in closet she's ever seen.

She laughed when she realized it was barely even filled. After she closed the door, she turned and gasped, almost dropping her cup. Austin stood in front of her, a vacant expression on his face.

She put her cup down on the dark dresser behind her and laughed nervously. "Are you okay?" She asked.

"Fine." He said, shrugging, heading toward another door. He opened it to reveal a large bathroom inside. She felt another part of her ooze with admiration. "Just don't understand why you wouldn't want me to hear a conversation between you and Ronnie." He walked out with a small towel and closed the door harshly behind him.

She sighed. "I just wanted to talk to him about the Trace thing. I'm sorry."

"Why do you still care?" He asked, whipping around. "He threatened to kill all your friends, including _me. _He's a psycho."

"I know that." She said more quietly as he got louder. "But I was still curious as to how Ronnie found out he was in jail."

Austin scoffed. "You shouldn't care at all." He grabbed the handle of his bedroom door to walk out but Danielle darted forward, blocking his path. "I need to go clean up a spill in the kitchen. Move."

She shook her head. "Not until you understand that I don't want to be with Trace. I want him to rot in jail for everything he's done, you know that. But he took a part of me that I can never get back and even though I hated it, he knows he's still attached to me because of that and he uses it against me."

Austin's face seemed to soften only a little bit. "He never loved you. I hope you know that."

Dani nodded slowly, tears beginning to form in her eyes. "Yeah," her voice cracked. "I know."

Austin put the towel down on the dresser and took the crying Danielle in his arms. She cried into his Slipknot shirt, holding tightly onto the back it. He kissed the top of her head, running his hand down her back.

She looked up at him and he wiped her tears away from her face. "I'm sorry," she said. "I'm sorry for making you leave like that. I just wanted to talk to him without there being a problem and...I didn't really think about it, I'm sorry."

"No, no," Austin said softly, making her look at him. "It's fine. Don't worry. I'm sorry for getting mad." He kissed her lips.

She kissed back, her fingers finding their way to the back of his head and tangling themselves in his hair. He suddenly picked her up, carrying her in his arms. She let out a small scream, then started laughing. He smiled, continuing to kiss her as he walked her over to the bed and laid her down on top of it.

"Don't you have a spill to clean up?" She asked suddenly.

Austin paused, looking at his closed bedroom door. "I think it can wait." He laughed, pressing his lips back on hers before she could say anything else. Their clothes were off each others' bodies no soon after that and she enjoyed the amazing sex with Austin that she never could have experienced with Trace.

.&.

It had been a month since Danielle moved into Austin's house and she was already loving every moment of it. She went to the beach with him every morning and watched him ride some of the waves out and he even tried to teach her, but that didn't work out too well.

Sometimes, she would go with him to the studio and she would hang out with the band while Austin recorded. She made a nice bonding relationship with Tino within that time and they just became the best of friends.

All over Twitter, she still received tweets about her and Austin and how they thought it was an act or that they were just best friends. But on each other's Instagram, they posted pictures with one another calling each other baby. But people still refused to believe it.

_Just got to hear my baby record some vocals for their upcoming album! I love these guys to death._

She took a picture of her, Tino, Alan, Phil, and Aaron for Instagram as Austin was in the sound booth recording. She smiled as it came up on her feed and tagged the rest of them in it. As Austin finished, he looked out at her from the sound booth and smiled, blowing her a kiss.

She smiled and blushed, loving that she had the most amazing boyfriend in the world. She got to sleep in his arms on his comfortable bed every night (and other things every night) and she woke up to his peaceful face just like she wanted every morning (and his huge dog that warmed up to her rather quickly).

She lived the life on the West Coast. And it would only get better once she started recording her own album in a few months.

Danielle Perry got exactly what she wanted on this Warped Tour: more adoring fans, new best friends, and a man that showed her she could do anything no matter the circumstances. She wouldn't do anything to change this summer. She liked it _exactly _how it turned out.

End Part I.

* * *

**A/N: D'AAAAW. So yes, there will be a sequel oH bOy. IT'S GONNA BLOW YOUR MIND. I'm working on it all now! I'll see you guys in the next one. You all better read it (; Love you ! Xoxo**


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